Wish Fulfillment
by God Wannabe
Summary: When a slightly unstable teen disappointed in the monotony of the modern world gets transported to Chaldea, things happen. Dead set on his goal to have the greatest adventure possible, Damien is not just ready, but eager to face the challenges before him, and maybe save humanity in the process. After all, it's the journey that matters, right? (F/GO SI)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: I am transferring this from Spacebattles in order to get more feedback. Despite having a relatively solid idea of where I want this story to go, I have quite some doubt in my writing skills. So, in order to raise the quality of this story, I've decided to 'expand my horizons,' so to speak. Without further adieu, please enjoy!**

Chapter 1.

"Dear Zelretch," the pen's tip scribbled erratically against the paper, "Another year has pa-

_-ssed, and it's Christmas again. I hope I don't bother you too much with these letters. But I know that Santa is actually you. I'm certain of it. So, if you really are Santa, won't you grant me this one wish? I know it might seem childish, or petty, but I just can't take it anymore. It's not that my life is bad, I have a great family and a lot of friends, it just feels wrong somehow. All this daily routine, and everyday work, I know it is slowly killing me. This life is not meant for me. There is no motivation, no excitement! The books, the movies, the cartoons, they all tell tales of wonder and adventure, heroes and villains! Then where are they? There are no adventures. There are no heroes. There is no wonder and no villains. There is nothing. It's all grey._

_You wake up in the morning and think: this is a new day! It's a lie. No day is new. They are all the same. No matter what you do. No matter where you go. This planet, no, this world is a cage. Human society is a cage meant to contain itself. Why must we suffer so? There are those who would live with a smile on their face, and think themselves happy. Cogs, those are. NPCs. For someone who sees the world as it is, and imagines as it could've been, living here is agony. Not literal, of course. There is no pain. You just feel hollow. It doesn't matter how many friends you have, or how much your family love's you. Existence itself, every passing day chips away and your mind, polishing you into another faceless drone._

_So please, help me!_

_Get me out of here." _

I wrote down my name and looked at the letter. The table lamp standing on my work desk was slightly flickering, making light and shadows twist together in a mesmerizing dance. Despite wearing glasses, I still had to squint my eyes to make sure no grammar mistakes were made. Wouldn't want to send a letter full of spelling errors. That would be embarrassing. I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. Yeah, as if this wasn't already embarrassing by itself.

I stood up with a tired sigh, turning the lamp off, and silently glancing across my room. Since the last light source was turned off seconds ago, everything was covered by a blanket of darkness. Not the warm kind too. I looked out of the window and tried to pierce deep into the blizzard with my vision. It was to no effect. This year's winter was surprisingly brutal, no walls could save you from its chilly grasp. It was dark outside, and the wind was so strong that little wisps of it somehow reached even me. I shuddered. It really was cold.

I walked across the room, picking up my letter on the way, before putting it under my pillow. My parents always told me when I was younger that Santa's were either delivered to a post office or were left in the fridge. Of course, when I grew up a bit, I thought myself a fool for believing in such superstitions. Now I thought myself a fool for straining to break from those stories. I returned back to my desk and stared at the powered off the computer screen. Rather, in my reflection. As usual, dark brown eyes, black hair with a ponytail peeking from behind my neck, and, of course, glasses. Not that there was anything wrong with them. I sat there in silence, my thoughts a white blank.

I loved moments like these. There was nowhere to hurry and nothing to do. Nobody called you, nobody talked to you, just enjoying your own company and your own thoughts. The winds wailed beyond the glass barrier. I leaned back on my chair and looked at the ceiling. There was no yesterday so no memories could plague me with uncertainty. There was no tomorrow so no possibilities could torment me with indecisiveness. But most importantly, there was no now, so no choices forced to me pick.

I frowned slightly. I hated choices. I hated picking. You should either have everything or have nothing at all. Choosing something, but abandoning something else caused almost corporeal creaks to echo from my very core. It was just wrong.

I picked up my phone and turned it on. The screen lit up, greeting me with familiar smirks of my favorite Gravity Falls art. Bill Cipher pulling strings attached to the possessed Dipper, with burning pages floating all over. I strained my lips upwards and checked the time. It said '4:57'. Man, this was really late for me. I stayed this late only twice in my life: when I needed to finish 'Journey to the West' event before it ended in a few hours, and when I waited to download and set up the Fate VN. I smiled bitterly at that memory. I was in our country house and had unlimited, but slow, Wi-Fi for one night. So I decided to stay up as long as possible to ensure that I download everything I need and installed it properly. I did. The next morning it turned out that we had unlimited Wi-Fi for several weeks, not just one day.

I should really go to sleep. I stretched and yawned, the sound echoing from wall to wall. I headed to my bed before an idea suddenly struck me. My grandma once showed me how to properly send your wishes on such occasions. I couldn't believe I almost forgot about it! My eyelids shot open as excitement started budding up in me. I was about to do something special! Something almost unique!

I slowly opened my door, trying to be as quiet as possible since my parents were asleep. My grandparents already left for their homes after the Christmas party, so I was free to roam the apartment. I sneaked passed their bedroom and entered the dining room. Fortunately, it was big and one with the kitchen, so there was no need for me to go back and forth. I opened the cabinet and grabbed one of the glasses from there, then put it on the table with a quiet click. Now, then, I needed fire. My heart started hammering in my chest. This, this was why lived. Something that most people wouldn't do, something exciting, adventurous! I froze with a smile on my face.

I had no idea whether we had a lighter or not. I was also pretty sure I haven't seen a box off matches for about a year. That one with chemicals from my biology summer practice didn't count, there were no matches inside. Was this it? Did my little adventure end within the first few minutes, and with failure at that? I dragged myself to a chair and slumped in it. The blizzard was still going full force, but by some miracle, I could see the moon gleam from beyond the snow storm. This whole situation reminded me of those cavemen stories. People huddled together in caves, locked inside by the fierce weather and creeping darkness. Trying to stave off cold, yet dying one by one, unable to bear the harsh environment.

Unlike them, I was protected by glass and concrete, surrounded by food and drinks, with light but a flick of a switch away. But I still felt. That desperate, begging need for fire. I was sure it wasn't as encompassing as during those times, but it was still there. Something primal. My little adventure was not over, not a long shot! If I needed fire, then I would find it. My eyes narrowed, I stood up from the chair with as much dignity as possible and glanced around. Unfortunately, no matchboxes were lying around. A pity, but that just meant that I'd find them myself instead of waiting for them to appear. As I pushed myself away from the table, my brushed against something, causing me to stumble.

I briefly shook my hand and looked at the culprit of ruining my moment. I probably looked cool doing it, too! All my indignation vanished the moment I set my eyes on the perpetrator. I couldn't see the colors in the darkness, but it had a very distinct shape. I slowly reached and picked it up, turning it and checking from all sides. A little push and, with a scraping sound, its middle part slid out. It was a matchbox. With a single match inside. A shiver ran down my spine as a stared at the lonely wooden stick.

This was bonkers. It was right on the table. But it wasn't on the table, I would've remembered! I closed the box and gripped it tightly in my fist. Obviously, I wasn't about to let it go, it could disappear. It wouldn't, of course, just like how I simply missed it lying on the table, but this was my little adventure and no one would take it away from me! I also just remembered that I left the letter in my room. I silently walked back to my room, glancing around from time to time, and lifted the pillow. The letter was still there.

I carefully picked it up, but then heard shuffling coming from my left. I whirled around in a sudden impulse of fright but found nothing but furniture. The sound repeated itself, again from the left. I slowly turned my head in its direction and stared and my clenched fist. The knuckles were white with pressure. I forcible uncurled the subtly shaking fingers and saw a slightly deformed matchbox. Like a floodgate was opened, all the tension left my body and I sagged in relief. Shaking my head, I departed from my room once again and got back to the glass. A quick look around showed that nothing suspicious happened while I was gone.

I put down the letter and the matchbox before straightening my glasses with one finger. The only right way to straighten glasses. I forcibly expelled a chunk of air from my lungs and got to work. Well, not really, since I actually enjoyed it. I opened the matchbox, straining a little against its crushed edges, and pulled out the single matchstick. This was it. My adventure was close to an end. I smiled and flicked the match against its former container. A few bright sparks flew out before darkness enveloped them with its embrace. Damn it. I've always sucked at lighting matches. Always wrong, never confident. Afraid of bright, sudden flashes. Afraid to get hurt.

I steeled myself and flicked with more confidence. A small flash and a tiny flame began dancing on the tip of the match. It looked like a miniature wizard's wand. I waved my hand around a bit, causing the dot of fire to shift and twist in the air. I grinned in excitement and picked up the letter. Well, the moment of truth! I brought the match to one of the letter's corners and watched in fascination how it caught fire. My hands were visibly shaking at this point, and I couldn't prevent a ragged laugh from escaping my lips. Seeing the letter char and wither away, I dropped it in the glass. After what felt like a minute of staring at the burning paper, I was once again alone in the dark. I grabbed the glass and approached the water cooler in the kitchen zone.

With a quiet hum, the rushing water scattered the ashes on the bottom of the glass, which then danced and twirled like snowflakes. Raising my glass in the silent toast to the moon, I took a deep breathed and downed the water in one gulp. I could almost feel the ashes brush past lungs as they fell into the stomach. I set the glass near the sink and turned around to throw away the matchbox. It wasn't there.

I stood there, dumbfounded, as I stared at the spot I clearly remembered putting the offending object. I slowly looked around with narrowed eyes, but the matchbox was nowhere to be found. This was the first time anything so weird happened to me. This was also the first time I tried something so equally desperate and exotic. A second later, and slasher grin bloomed on my face. Oh, please-please-pleasy-please be real! Unable, and uninterested, to contain my excitement, I almost ran back into my room and dropped on the bed. I drilled into the ceiling with my eyes and brought one of my shaking hands to my chest, pressing into it tightly.

"Thank you," a whisper left my lips, "Whoever you may be. Even if nothing else happens, today is a happy day. It was… a very enjoyable experience."

With a content smile, I didn't even notice how my consciousness drifted away, dragged by the dreams of adventure.

…

I felt numerous tiny needles were poking into my face. I instinctively frown and turned on my other side. Of course, I've already been woken up, but it was a matter of principle. Getting out of bed right after waking was a legal crime. As in, there was no law against it, except the Law of Common Sense and the Law of Basic Decency. More soft needles poked my face and a soft breeze ruffled my hair. This was getting annoying. With a grumble, I sat up and rubbed my eyes until they started hurting up a bit. When I got all of that filthy beige snot out, I finally opened my eyes and twitched that very moment, as every muscle in my body violently contracted.

It was beautiful. The rustling leaves of pure emerald, the field of swaying grass of the same color. The pure sky of the most wonderful blue I've ever seen, and the golden sun shining warmly upon the world. This was surely a dream. It could be nothing but. There was no place on Earth that could ever hope to be as breathtaking as the sight before me. I slowly brought my arm down and ran it through the blades of grass. Real. They felt real, and oh so soft. It felt like real grass, like what it should've been, not the cheap parody that grew where I lived!

I fingers clenched, digging into the earth. It was spongy and cool, but more importantly, just as real as the grass! I breaths came out shakily as I started to hyperventilate. I looked around once more before getting up on wobbly legs. I was mistaken. This was a dream, this couldn't be anything but a dream. Nothing as real this grows in reality. It was too perfect, had too much essence and meaning to it, even in a single touch. Yes, this was surely a dream. A dream I was willing to die in. My family, my friends, I loved them, I loved them dearly, but this… this gave me some hidden purpose. Just by being here I felt myself develop a meaning of my own. I was as real as the world around me.

I looked at myself and marveled. My skin look was real. My clothes were real. I hugged myself tightly and breathed out in absolute elation. I was living to stand like this for eternity, but a roar interrupted my peace. No, that wasn't true. The roar was just as real, just as corporeal as everything else around me. It wasn't an interruption, it was just a part of this world just like grass, and trees, and the skies! I looked in the direction it originated from and tears started budding in my eyes. A massive hulking body of uneven stone, each step causing light earth tremors to rush in every direction. A demonic face carved in the boulder that acted as the head of the body. It was a Golem.

An honest to God Golem! I've already had fantasy-themed dreams from which I remembered mere seconds of fighting mythical creatures and flinging distorted spells that my mind conjured for me. Of course, none have ever felt like this one. The mass of jagged stone slowly approached me, but I couldn't move a muscle. Or rather, I didn't want to move a muscle. I wanted to see it up close. I wanted to soak in its majesty, in its symbolism! The blades of grass bent in my direction with every step it took, visible shockwaves running through the filed.

It took too little time for it to reach me. Standing within arm's reach, it towered above me like a tree over a kitten. Its mere presence was putting tangible pressure on my souls, but the only things I felt was ecstasy. There was no sound. There were no other senses. There was only the physical proof of my victory standing right before me. It was an old thing, conditions I made up to ease up my life. I wanted magic. I wanted to know that magic was real. If I knew that magic was real, then I won regardless of what happens before, during, or after that. The existence of magic meant that there was something to strive to, an unknown just waiting to be discovered.

I knew this was a dream. I knew I couldn't have been so lucky as to actually win. But this was still a victory. A small, worthless and delusional victory. And yet, a victory nonetheless. I watched with wide eyes how the arms two times as thick as I was silently rose into the air. I had no doubts that it could crush me like a bug. To be honest, I did hold a bit of fear somewhere deep within me, but I was ashamed to even think about. Fear was too petty and insignificant for this. Solid rock started to descend on my head when a rush of red-tinted air crashed into it. The air solidified before my eyes to reveal a spear of bright crimson. My eyes trailed along the carved vines, taking in as much as possible.

But what finally caused tears to burst forth from my eyes was that I knew this spear. Gae Bolg, The Barbed Spear That Pieces With Death, the Noble Phantasm of the Heroic Spirit Cu Chulainn from Nasuverse. Made out of the rib bone of the Phantasmal Beast Curruid by Scathach and gifted to Ireland's Child of Light.

"Hey, Master! I know I'm strong and all, but this ain't as easy as I'm making it look!" A loud voice right beside me pierced the still air, causing all the sounds and feelings to rush back into my perception, "So I strongly suggest you move back a bit!"

The voice matched too. My head swirled to the side, muscles straining so hard I was slightly afraid I'd snap my own neck. There he was, clad in a bodysuit of vibrant blue with silver stripes running along the edges. Absolutely impossible dark blue hair gathered in a ponytail much longer than mine, and two ruby eyes, same color as his spear, staring right into my soul. With a feral grin, and a roar to match, the Irish Hero pushed away the rocky appendage and, less than a second later, his leg smashed into the Golem, sending it flying across the field. Instead of giving chase, the Servant moved to stand protectively in front of me and exclaimed.

"So, Master! Your orders?"

The words pierced into my mind like a mining laser. I was in no condition to properly function yet I moved nonetheless. I was too happy, too confused, too scared, and many other 'too's. But eclipsing all of those, were dreams and fantasies of me hearing those words, being in this position. As if drilled by years of fierce training, my body stood up and extended the right arm, noting the set of blazing Command Seals. A second later, the grass rustled to both sides of me, announcing the appearance of Arturia Pendragon and Arash, as more golems appeared from the tree line. The whole situation instantly clicked in my mind. This was the tutorial fight from Fate/Grand Order. One my most desired dreams. It actually came true!

The slasher smile was back on my face, as I bellowed out with as much force as I could, "Arash, covering fire! Disrupt golems' attacks and decrease their freedom of movement!" The Archer in question nodded with a smile and jumped backward, grass swaying under the force of his kick. Before I could continue, air whistled right beside my ear as countless arrows flew towards the golems like guided missiles.

"Arturia, tank the golems. Dodge when you can, destroy them when you can, but stop them from reaching me and Arash!" the next command was given, and I saw her emerald eyes narrow in preparation for the fight. With a clanking sound, she clenched the invisible Excalibur and dashed forward to meet the enemy head-on.

"Cu Chulainn, pick off whoever you can, your task is to deal as much damage as possible while avoiding their counter attacks!"

"You got it, Master!" The blue blur darted past me and slammed into one of the golems beside Arturia.

I watched the fight closely, ready to dispense new commands at a moment's notice. My mind was currently running in two completely different paths: one was observing the fight and mentally shuffling through my current Servants' strengths and weaknesses, the other was in a catatonic state from sheer awesome and absolute happiness that encompassed my entire being.

Arturia's blocks were filled with so much strength that the offending golems' arms crumbled under the force of their own blows. The lock of golden straw shined brightly under the sun and shuffled with even the subtlest of moves, seemingly playing with each other under the sunlight. Cu was jumping from one enemy to another, cursed spear flashing with menacing red as it tore off hands and flowed through stone bodies like a hot knife through butter. One of Ireland's greatest Heroes danced between the golems with a beastly grace, churning through them like a violent waterfall. Golems fell apart for no apparent reasons, only for arrows to be revealed in the joints and cores. I briefly glanced back to see Arash stand a top of a hill, his bow in hand, with the sun glowing right above him.

I looked back to fight and slightly frowned. Arturia was taking more and more damage from multiple blows dealt from different directions, while Cu, true to his task, wasn't enough to hold the veritable golem army from reaching me and Arash. Something needed to be done, and quickly. All the games I've played and Wiki pages I've replaced one another in search for a suitable Skill. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember any Arash's Skills outside of something to do with a Natural Body Skill and the ability to create his own arrows, Stella notwithstanding. Cu was a Lancer right now, so no Runic combat, while Ath nGabla, Protection From Arrows, and Disengage were useless right now, just as Battle Continuation. My thoughts moved to Arturia. The Mana Burst could be really helpful, but how useful would it be exactly depended on its range and width. Although…

"Archer, hold fire! Saber, fall back! Lancer, gather their attention!" The idea came suddenly, but that didn't make it any less effective. Lancer stopped moving in one of the clearings, catching enemies' attention as a stationary target. Within this moment of confusion, Arturia rushed back to me. Her armor was covered in dents, and she breathed a bit heavier than before.

"What is it, Master? I can still fight." The Once and Future King frowned slightly in my direction. One part of me continued fanboying, shedding tears of joy, while the other finished giving out orders.

"Cu, harass them to keep their attention. Run around the field to gather them en masse! Arash, continue on your assault on my command." I turned to Saber who was lightly tapping her foot against the grass.

"Arturia, how many could you destroy per Mana Burst?" Her eyes immediately brightened, and the tiniest smile, bordering on a smirk blossomed on her lips, "Unless you are okay with using Hammer of the Wind King that is."

She froze for a second, then gave me a measuring look and resolutely nodded. Wonderful. While Mana Burst was strong in its own right, Arturia's single-use attack Strike Air was more than enough to devastate every golem in this field. If they weren't spread out at least. We watched in silence as Lancer glided across the clearing, shouting and taunting the golems who followed him as one. Because each of them took the shortest route to the enemy, it was fairly easy for Cu to gather them into a swarm of moving stone. Even if it wasn't as big as it looked like, such a number of golems was still as intimidating as they could possibly be.

"Saber, go!" Arturia rushed towards the golem army, the winds around her sacred Sword howling louder than ever. As she was within attack range and already reaching forward with her sword, some golems started turning towards her. I screamed for Cu, "Lancer, **_Disengage!_**"

Amplified with a Command Seal, his Skill became absolute for that split second, allowing to simply vanish right before the wave of crushing gales struck the golems. Strike Air was a sight to behold, a roaring wind, stronger and faster than anything I've seen before simply slammed into reality with a wail of a thousand howling wolves. The earth split apart and stone shattered, as golems were blown away as chunks of broken stone. She was standing right in front of me, so I didn't get a chance to gaze upon the Sword In The Stone, but the trench strike air left was enough to shake me to the bottom of my heart.

Silence reigned for a few seconds before the sounds rushed into my ears. The birds resumed chirping, the leaves continued to rustle, and a triumphant laugh from Cu Chulainn echoed amongst the trees.

"Good job, Master! That was a nice fight." He stood before me the split second it took me to blink and slammed his hand down on my shoulder, causing my knees to buckle, "I'll be looking forward to when you actually summon me." His grin was infectious, and I found myself smiling even before I realized what he said.

"Indeed. It was a wonderful battle." A soft voice reached me from behind as Arash entered my vision, sending a warm smile in my direction, "As the Child of Light said, I'll be waiting for us to meet in real life, Master."

"W-What do you mean, 'real life'?" I knew this a dream of course, but actually hearing it out loud tore through my happiness like a cleaver.

"This is but a simulation, Master." Sternly, but with a hint of a smile, Arturia called out as she reached us, "It should be ending soon. Allow me to congratulate on your wonderful performance."

The other nodded in agreement as I finally realized what was happening. This was a dream about a virtual simulation. I was fully aware that there was no possibility of me seeing them again. Just the fact that this dream happened once was already a miracle, to hope for more would be like spitting in the faces of Luck and Fate. Raising my eyes up to the skies, I saw them twitch slightly. As if a dam was broken, the entire landscape, the whole reality started trembling. Led by a childish impulse, I pulled all the imaginary Heroic Spirits into a group hug, as tears finally burst forth.

"Thank you, thank you for this…" I continued repeating the same line over and over like a broken recorder, especially when I felt three sets of arms awkwardly hug me in return.

With a sudden flash, all of my senses were gone, and I prepared myself to wake from this wonderful dream into the boring reality. To my enormous surprise, it didn't happen. Instead, I heard a sound.

"Kyu? Fou…" There was no way it could be actually happening. There was no way, but there was a nudge of something soft against my cheek, "Fou! Fou!"

I forced my eyes open and looked at the pearly white offspring of a dog and a squirrel. Maybe with a bit of a fox mixed in somewhere there too. My thoughts were a swirl of emotions. Was the dream still going strong? I sure hoped so. Maybe… Would I dare to assume that it actually happened? That my letter reached the Kaleidoscope, or whoever did this all, and they fulfilled my wish? I reached out with a trembling hand to touch the fluffy creature and confirm the reality of its existence when a pair of elegant hand carefully plucked the critter from my shoulder.

I sleepily trailed the hands with my eyes until I was met with a single violet orb looking back at me.

"Ehm, sorry for waking you up, Senpai." Mash slumped a little and tried to avoid eye contact, shyness waging a brutal battle against politeness. The latter won and the met my eyes once again, "Fou here sometimes runs away, and it's pretty difficult to catch him. Sorry…"

She bowed at the waist, while Fou tried to squirm out of her clenched arms. Unfortunately, she seemed to forget just how close she was to me, causing her head to bump into mine. With a startled yelp, she stumbled and fell to the floor as the squirrel-dog escaped her clutches and disappeared somewhere in the white hallways with a high-pitched 'Fou!' sound. Meanwhile, I brought my hands up to my head and quietly hissed. Turned out Mash had one hell of a sturdy head. When the ringing went away, I slowly stood up, leaning on the wall, and reached out to help Mash get up. She nodded thankfully and took my arm –skin, perfect skin, can't be real, must be a dream– before helping herself up.

"A-Ah, Sorry about that! I, ah, I didn't mean to!" She snapped to attention and started waving her arms before apparently deciding to bow one more time. However, before she could slam her head somewhere else, I put my hands on her shoulders –soft– and tried to put as much serenity into my voice as I could.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Damn, this wasn't going as well as I hoped, "It's fine. I just fell asleep here, and you lost your pet trying to wake me up. It's my fault, not yours. Say, what's your name? I'm Damien."

"M-my name? Oh, I suppose it is fair enough to introduce myself since you told me yours. My name is Mash," she bowed again, but this time just slightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Senpai."

"The pleasure's all mine!" I tried to form a smile as friendly as I good. She didn't excuse herself from my presence, so I guessed it kind of worked, "So, could you show me the direction to the Central Command Room? I wouldn't want to miss the Orientation."

"Right, you can count on me, Senpai." She turned to go into one of the plain white hallways when I figure suddenly approached from beyond the corner. A dark green suit lined with black fur and a top hat of the same color. His long curly hair fell to his chest, giving him a judge-like appearance. Except green.

"Oh, Mash! How unusual for you to be wandering around Chaldea. That won't do at all," The disguised Demon God Pillar shook his head with a smile before turning his attention to me, "And you are the forty-eighth Master Candidate, I assume? For your own good, I hope you were heading to the Orientation. I wouldn't for anyone to get on Director's blacklist this early."

He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck. As he was now, there was no trace or hint to him being a demonic entity stronger than most Servants. But I knew. Lev Lainur was a monster whom I will have to face eventually. But not now. I couldn't afford to sabotage the plot this early. I needed for everything to go as canon. Lev would detonate the explosives, Chaldea would burn and all other Masters would die. It was petty, very petty, but I simply couldn't find the strength in myself to share the Servants with other Masters. They were used to them, to magic. They couldn't appreciate the existences that were Servants. It was all for the better.

"Yes, we were actually heading there before we met you, Mr…?"

"Lev. Lev Lainur. I am one of the technicians here at Chaldea. Hm," he looked from me to Mash and then back. He smiled, "I assume you don't need my help to get to the Command Center?"

"Ah, yes. I will show Senpai the way." she nodded resolutely and looked at Lev with a questioning expression.

"Alright, alright, I won't delay you any longer," he paused, "Come to think of it, this is the first time you've called anyone 'Senpai'. Care to share?"

"It's just… Damien feels more human than anyone else I've met. I don't feel any hostility coming from him." Considering this was Mash, there was no way this was a diss. No way at all.

"Ah, I see! Well, good for you too. I'm afraid I have to cut this conversation short, there is some business I need to attend to. I'm sure you understand." Oh, I sure did. Though his smile really did look apologetic. With that, he trod down the hall in the direction where we came from.

As looked at his disappearing form, Mash slightly tapped my shoulder and pointed somewhere deeper into the building, "Let's go, Senpai." As we walked past the pearly halls of Chaldea and the rare passing employ, I thought back on my situation.

So, it appeared that I was actually in Chaldea, seemingly replacing the Protagonist. The initial shock and ecstasy wore off, and now I was just full with giddy anticipation. If I did everything right, Mash and I would end up in the burning Fuyuki and I would get a chance to summon a Heroic Spirit! My first, but definitely not the last one! It was highly unfortunate then, that Olga Marie would have to die. If I so much as tried to save her, the story could go off the rails and I could be stripped of this heavenly existence as Chaldea's only Master. Besides, Doctor Roman and Da Vinci did a wonderful job at running the organization, we would do fine without the current Director. I started to hum some happy tune, causing Mash to turn her head in my direction with a raised eyebrow. I just shrugged and continued humming. I was already feeling sleepy after the simulation so it would be of no issue to fall asleep during the Orientation. Then, I'd get shipped to Roman and survive the explosions. What really saddened me, however, was what Mash had to go through. Being trapped under a giant slab of stone inside a burning room… Truly a pity.

I discreetly looked at her and took in her appearance. Soft pink hair –unique, it was so unique, I loved it–, eyes of a beautiful violet color and a figure that I knew was better than anything Earth had to offer. She wasn't just a human, she was a character– a crystallized existence. She wasn't a Servant quite yet, but that didn't mean that she had any less worth. Her existence had a purpose, even if I didn't know what it was, and that put her on a level far above any human, including me. Simply having dreams wasn't enough, a purpose was different. It was something you truly desired, the completion and fulfillment of which you craved above everything else. No price was too high to see your purpose realized, and no price was too high to find out what your purpose was. With a few exceptions, of course. Like Servants, for example. I valued them far beyond normal humans, maybe with the exception of my family. To see their purposes realized… Truly, that would be an adventure indeed! And maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to find my own purpose along the way.

"We're here, Senpai," the hallways were replaced with a massive room covered in strange blue writings. Runes, I assumed. A massive globe-shaped construct proudly stood in the very center, its coils slowly spinning around a brightly shining light blue orb. Seeing it up close was a completely different experience than seeing a picture on the phone, "Your seat is in the front row. I'll stand here, in the back."

"Thanks, Mash," I smiled at her and she returned it after hesitating a little –cute, directed at me, mine, only mine–, "You are a great help."

This time she smiled with a bit more confidence, and I proceeded to my seat. Unlike the story, we weren't late this time, probably because I didn't ask that many questions, and now I was able to watch as the seats were slowly filling up with people. How did it go again? Thirty-eight elite magi and ten talented public applicants? Well, the distinction was quite clear. Even though we were all wearing the standard Chaldea Master's outfit, the air itself was different around the magi nobles. I honestly didn't pay a lot of attention to them though since they were not relevant to anything and would die anyway, instead trying to force myself to sleep. I could feel it almost within my grasp, but I wasn't there quite yet.

Finally, everyone was settled, and Olga Marie Animusphere entered the stage. She was… unique to say the least. A mane of snow-white hair and eyes of molten gold were so entrancing of a combination, that I felt really bad about her future for a second. She was even standing mere meters away from the device that would spell her agonizing death. I wondered if she had a purpose, the game didn't really offer a chance to get to know her better, maybe I should… On second thought, I probably shouldn't. A mere possibility of her being entertaining wasn't enough to justify my death and the end of my adventure that could result from it. And trying to befriend her after we arrived in Fuyuki would be pointless, as she'd be already dead. The most I could do for Olga was to make sure she died before Lev got his hands on her.

Heh, would you look at me, not a day had passed since I was transported into a 'brave new world', and I was already planning to kill people… Good thing I wasn't a bad person. Wouldn't be nice to leave the Good-aligned Servants unsummoned. God knows we'd need cheerfulness and optimism during the upcoming disaster. One I was really looking towards. I sighed. Maybe there really was something wrong with me…

"Master Candidate number forty-eight!" A stern voice ripped right through my slowly drifting thoughts, snapping me back to attention, "I see that catching an afternoon nap is more important to you than guarding the future of the entire human race," she huffed, "See yourself to Doctor Romani this instant, you are hereby excused from the Orientation. If you get lost, you have only yourself to blame."

With another indignant huff, the Director turned away from me and continued blabbering about something. I doubted it was important anyway, more preoccupied with fighting encroaching sluggishness and conflicting emotions. On one hand, everything was going great. On the other, that was pretty rude of her. I mean, I was just really tired and got lost in thought, and that was no reason to snap at someone, was it?

On my way back, followed by mocking and haughty stares, I passed by Mash, meeting her worried look with a sheepish smile. Seeing her worry about my well-being made me feel warm and fluffy on the inside, but right now I had things to do. While I had no idea where to go exactly, a few staff members I met along the way were kind enough to point me in the direction of Dr. Roman's office. Stopping right before the door with the label that said 'Dr. Romani Archaman, Head of Medical Staff', I recollected myself and knocked three times.

There was no answer.

I knocked again, this time harder. Still no response. Idly, I wondered if the door didn't open by itself because I wasn't registered as a proper master yet. Or something. The game didn't exactly show any doors opening, and, for the love of me, I couldn't remember any mentions of that being made either. After a few minutes passed my foot started tapping impatiently at the floor, soft impacting resonating through the entire hallway.

I was about to knock again when I remembered a piece of very important information. I was so preoccupied with Summonings and other important events, that I completely forgot about more minor but more currently relevant ones. As of now, Dr. Roman was supposed to be in my assigned room, by mistake or not I did not know, but in the game, he engaged with Ritsuka in a lengthy conversation that ended up saving the latter's life.

Seeing how I wasn't planning on going back to the Orientation room before the explosives go off, I essentially ended up having an unspecified amount of free time on my hands. Maybe I should go see Da Vinci?

The mere thought of meeting the legendary genius in person caused my hands to tremble slightly. A being of legend, someone who carved himself, or herself, in the history of mankind. But I decided against such an action, despite my burning desire to do so anyway. I doubted that Da Vinci would be as accommodating to a mere forty-eight master candidate as she was to the single surviving Master. And first impressions were very important, especially since I'd be plunged into the heart of conflict before I could meet him (her) on my terms.

I sighed. Dr. Roman it was then. Except… I had no idea where my room was. I stood in the hallway for a few more minutes, my mind seemingly going blank from an epic battle between tiredness and embarrassment raging within my head. In the end, sloth won, and I slowly headed in some random direction.

After some time of mindless wandering, I realized that I've been going in circles around the Orientation room. A few seconds of consideration later, and I resumed my methodical circling of the room in question. The spot seemed perfect, I hoped I wasn't too close for the explosions to hit me, but I also wasn't too far away to get to Mash in time.

I had no idea how much of my lifespan I wasted walking in circles, but I welcomed the sudden tremors that almost knocked me off my feet as the Second Coming. The halls lit up with a piercing red and the alarms started shrieking, causing me to hurriedly cover my ears lest I went deaf. Surprisingly, even though the sirens I could hear the door slamming shut in the distance, a fact that ushered me into a mad dash to the Rayshift Room.

As I ran, my heart trying its hardest to burst out of my ribcage, the enticing scent of burning things filled my nostrils. My already blooming grin stretched even more as I weaved around the panicking staff, though I had to admit that they were panicking with a purpose. People were running in different directions, barking out orders and carrying strange devices. Such a state of ordered chaos, along with the blazing sirens was truly like something out of a movie. It was absolutely glorious.

Despite my best efforts, I started humming to some tune I made up on the spot, the atmosphere sending chills of both fear and excitement down my spine. This was real. This was my story. I was the hero!

I finally made it to the anticipated doors, which greeted me in all of their decimated glory. The metal, or whatever they were made of anyway, was scorched and charred heavily, an unevenly black surface riddled with holes and indentations. More than that, the doors were bent outwards, in my direction, and looked as if Superman made it his job to punch them as dramatically as possible. Dramatically, because if he were serious he'd blast them out with a single strike.

Fortunately for me, this gruesomely glorious deformation created a human-sized opening that let me see, and pass, inside. Unlike the plain red of the rest of the compound, the Orientation room was red from the fire. The crimson flames raged without mercy, devouring machine and human alike.

As I slipped inside, an unholy cacophony of crackling metal and screams of agony reached my ears, but I grabbed them and stuffed as far as I possibly could. Such things were naught but a distraction to me at this moment. Faced with black smoke already filling up the room, I covered my face with my sleeve, eyes madly roaming across the blazing room.

I barely felt the heat when I rushed deeper into the fire, fortunately, as the Master uniforms apparently had some enchantments to ward off extreme temperatures. Finally, after what felt like hours of desperate searching, I caught a glimpse of purple in the corner of my eyes. To my muted annoyance, it was immediately replaced by a stray tongue of dancing flames. Bracing myself for my first act of heroism, I used the second sleeve to protect my face and sprinted into the wall of fire.

It hurt. A lot. Unfortunately, protection from heat didn't include protection from actual fire, and my bare hands and whatever strands of hair peeked out didn't have even that. So, even as I braved the flames and emerged on the other side victorious, I could already not feel my hands, and I was pretty sure my head was partially on fire. Those bombs must've been something else.

Feeling that if I didn't get to the first Singularity now I could very likely end up dead, I ran closer the massive slab of stone that seemingly squashed half of Mash's body. The scene that laid before my eyes were much more tragic in person than on the screen, though I was a bit too busy trying to survive to truly appreciate it. Very unfortunate, but not vital enough for me to risk my entire adventure.

I saw Mash weakly lift her head and looking up ate with those beautiful eyes of hers. Her mouth was opening and closing, but covering my face meant that I left my ears unguarded. With her probably barely able to speak, it was of no surprise that I couldn't hear a single word from her. But that was fine, words weren't necessary.

I gently took her outstretched hand and lifted as much of her as I could. It was probably the best, and the first, true hug in my entire life. I wasn't sure what I meant by 'true' in this context myself, but it seemed appropriate to me somehow. The heat emitted from her lithe body was surprisingly noticeable even among the raging flames.

And so we remained like that, two silent figures among the fiery hellscape. Even when the twisted doors burst open to reveal a group of people clad in what appeared to be hazmat suits and bearing some strange looking guns. Even when the room itself shuddered and the walls flashed blue. Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

I ceased to be.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

"-npai…"

Something warm and wet touched my cheek. I felt my eyelids twitch as the sensation repeated, my consciousness slowly returning back to the body. My senses started to reconnect one by one, and I was immediately assaulted by a bouquet of varying information. Rough stone –asphalt?– that was oddly warm pressed against the straining fabric of my uniform. Heat, oh so similar, seemed to seem through my skin and right into my heart. The sickly sweet smell of burning things was accompanied by the sound of crackling flames and crumbling structures.

"S…pai!"

Oh, that's right… Mash and I just got rayshifted to our first Singularity, the city of Fuyuki. The one where Angra Mainyu won, spreading his curses all across the land and blackening surviving Servants. A few scenes back from when I watched the Fate series for the time came to the front of my mind. Viscous pitch black mud engulfed everything in its path, people, buildings, vehicles… Like lava bursting from hell itself, it brought death and despair to any and all who had the misfortune to gaze upon it.

"Senpai! You have to wake up!"

From among the steady melody played by the fiery orchestra of devastation an even more melodic voice broke through. Like a lullaby suddenly switching to a morning alarm, it ripped me out of my daze. Within a few seconds, I found myself erratically scrambling to my feet, a small ball of something soft slipping from my face with a quiet yelp.

Frantically looking around, I finally connected the auditory images to visual ones. Everything was on fire. I personally have never seen a proper fire in my life. I've never witnessed a burning building, with firefighters ready to save lives. I've never experienced the heat coming from a blazing forest, the landscape itself slowly twisting into a scorched wasteland. But I've imagined oh so many times how I would sing and dance among the still-burning fields, laughing my soul out for the whole world to hear. Because that's exactly what protagonists did during their battles against especially powerful villains, right? Every hero was entitled to a bit of badness in them, so that simply reinforced my belief that I was the hero of this story.

But nonetheless, my first face-to-face with truly great fires was the one I'd remember for the rest of my life. It was as if the world itself was going up in flames. Massive skyscrapers, similar the one I used to live in, stood tall like mighty towers proclaiming the glory of desolation. The windows were busted and the gouts of fire erupted from within, illuminating the night skies. Below them, more ornate houses were sizzling and melting under the hellish heat, whatever gardens they had long gone. The streets Mash and I have found ourselves on, were covered in craters and cracks, all charred from whatever Angra Mainyu had done to them.

I looked at Mash next and immediately had to force myself to not stare at her changed form. Black armor with purple ornaments she was clad in covered a lot but left almost just as much for everyone to see. Her shoulders and stomach were bare, smooth –flawless– skin completely unaffected by the heat. I absently noted that her thighs were visible as well, but hastily switched my attention to the fact the only actual armor on her person was her skirt and some sort of neck protection. The outfit was by no means indecent, I personally enjoyed it, but seeing an attire like this on a person like Mash caused me to get lost in the sheer amount of childish glee. And that was even without mentioning the absolutely _gigantic_ shield she was carrying in her hand.

The purplish cross-shaped armament practically towered above her, silver designs and mysterious runes glinting dimly in the flickering orange light. It was so big it could cover both of us, and leave some space for more people still.

"S-Senpai?" I looked away from her shield, meeting her gaze. What caught my attention was a slight pink hue on her cheeks, barely noticeable against the similarly colored hair, "Is something wrong?..."

A few seconds passed as we just looked at each other awkwardly. The staring contest was interrupted by an indignant 'Fou!' coming from below us. A quick glance confirmed the presence of the white murder critter, the fluffy ball of fluff completely unaffected by our surroundings. Fortunately, that little interference brought us back to our senses, and when I next looked at Mash, her serious expression drilled right into me.

She didn't appear hostile or anything, god no, but it was a clear sign that it was time for my adventure to truly begin.

"Never mind that. Sen-, no, Master!" Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod! "We have hostiles incoming! Your or-"

A screech like no other _slammed_ into me, causing me to stumble from an illusory shockwave. I would've fallen if my trusty Servant didn't catch me with her free arm. I was hastily hauled back on my legs, and we both faced the origin of the unholy sound. A veritable army of shambling undead, half-rotten and half-charred skeletons, was rapidly approaching us. They were covered in rags whose smell would've probably sent me puking my guts out if not for the fires that mercifully got rid such an inconvenience.

There were tens of them, maybe even hundreds as it was rather hard to see, and they were all armed. Swords, spears, even bows were pulled from somewhere. The last presented the most problems to me personally as if Mash were to engage them in melee, I'd become a pincushion faster than I could say 'You Died.' Unfortunately, a quick glance back confirmed that the street dragged on for quite a while, and all the side alleys were blocked by collapsed rubble.

Ordering Mash to pave a path through them would've been a legitimate option, if only we weren't being targeted by a skeleton mob. So, that left only one way to proceed further.

"Hostiles within sight! Communication impossible, combat is unavoidable! Your orders, Master?"

Unavoidable indeed. I spied with my little eye something knee-high wall shaped and nearby. Perfect. It was common knowledge that in order to hit someone behind such a wall you'd have to walk around it.

"Mash, crush them! I will remain here, boosting your morale!" My voice laced with calm determination echoed across the improvised battlefield. I could already see her shoulders straightening as she raised her shield in front of her and prepared to make a dash towards the enemy. Of course, I had no doubts that she would easily decimate the opposing forces, she was a Servant after all. Well, a Demi-Servant, but that hardly mattered. Even the weakest Servant ranking, the E rank, indicated a value equal to _ten times peak human_.

"Servant Shielder, engaging the enemy!" So, just as my first Servant rushed towards the skeletons, the earth itself cracking beneath her feet, I ran for cover. Granted, it wasn't something I enjoyed doing, but I had literally no way to fight back right now. I wasn't trained in Magecraft, at all, I had no weapons, and I wasn't the most physically fit person on the block. Well, technically I was the fittest _human_ in the city, being the only one, but my point still stood. The thought of hitting the gym made me cringe in distaste, but I would persevere. I would persevere because I wanted to be trained by Scathach and other Servants, but at the same time, I didn't want to die from doing so. That would just be unbecoming of a protagonist of my caliber.

Making a beeline towards my chosen cover, I almost lost footing when a thunderous crash echoed from behind me. Unwilling to slow down and/or look back before I got to safety, I just assumed it was Mash doing Servant things. Finally reaching the wall, I instantly ducked behind it, before peeking out to survey the progress of the battle.

To my complete lack of surprise, Mash was absolutely dominating the undead. Shattered bones flew left and right, swords bent and spears broke as a black blur that was mash Kyrielight tore through the monsters. My heart beating fast, I spent some more time enjoying the glorious sight of Servant-level curbstomp, before coming to a decision that it was about time I participated too.

"Farm those bones!" Now, I wasn't that protagonist that shouted obvious things like 'Do your best!' or 'I believe in you!' or even 'Watch out, behind you!' No, I delivered only valuable advice and inspiring catchphrases, healthily supplied by bad puns and cheerful jokes. Whenever I came up, or remembered any, of course.

"Yeah, these lands will flourish soon, with such a bone-tiful amount of fertilizer! Tell them, Fou!" An adorable squeal of something distinctly sounding like 'Fou!' came from my right shoulder, "That's right! Wait, what?"

My head snapped to my right, staring incredulously at the critter as his beady little eyes full of mirth met my shocked ones. When did he?...

Another loud crash interrupted my thoughts, and I simply filed what happened as one of Fou's critter superpowers. When I looked back at the street, the battle was already at its end. The last few remaining skeletons futilely tried to swarm Mash but she just swiped with her shield, adding more calcium to the littered ground. I greedily took in the scene before me, a single Servant standing upon the shattered ground among a veritable sea of bones. With the burning city in the background. This, this was what I wished for. The adventure. The epic. The greatness!

Forcing myself back to reality, I left my cover and approached the barely panting Mash. Her breaths were a bit deeper than before, but that was it. She just took on an untiring army and all she had to prove it was a slight bout of tiredness. I felt myself slipping back into fangasming, so I took measures and engaged in the bane of my existence – social interactions.

"Great job, Mash!" I gave her a light pat on the shoulder, and crouched down to look through the bones, "You feeling alright?"

"T-thank you, Senpai," she regained her breath, "I know you have a lot of questions right now, but we have to try and contact Chaldea first. I'm sure Dr. Roman will explain everything," she paused, "Ehm, Senpai?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don't bother with the questions, I read the flier," I waved her off with the arm holding what seemed to be a femur, "I know the basic drill like Singularities, saving Humanity, that stuff. I do wonder what to do next though."

Of course, I was already aware of what happened next, but it would do to be too suspicious. Roman would tell us to find a leyline, we'd encounter the Director somewhere along the line… I would perform my first summoning and get a second Servant…

"Oh, alright then. Ehm, if I may ask, Senpai… What are you doing?" I heard sci-fi static noises coming from behind me, so I assumed she has already begun her attempts to establish a communication line with Chaldea.

"Don't mind me, I'm just trying to confirm something. Ignore me for now," I stood up and moved a few meters to the side before diving back into the mound of shattered skeletons, "Where are you, dammit? No, no, no… Yes!"

I jumped back on my feet, proudly holding a single bone as high as could as if waiting for the applause to break out. Surprisingly, two instances of unsure clapping echoed from behind. When I turned around, the bone still held high, I was greeted with a sight of a blue hologram floating right next to the confused Mash.

Dr. Roman, also known as Romani Archaman, was finally present in all of his light blue flickering glory. A wild mane of hair was gathered behind him in a ponytail of sorts, his eyes questioningly switching from Mash to me. Eventually, he just sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"So, ehm, one-two-…ree, one-two-three… Is the connection stable on your end?" His voice was slightly auto-tuned, though I guessed it was due to the weak interdimensional connection.

"We hear you loud and clear, Doctor. Can you tell us what happened?" Mash sounded calm and collected on the outside, but I could feel –and see– her tremble with worry.

"Oh thank g…dness! I can imagine what would've happened if we lo…ou!" The Good Doctor sagged in relief, the laidback-ness familiar from the game appearing for the first time, "Someone detonated explosives all over Chaldea. Most of our staff is dead or missing, and we still can't find neither hide nor hair of Dir…or Animusphere or Lev."

The was a pause as he looked somewhere else, his eyes visibly snapping to something invisible from here. A few seconds later, he looked back at us and he froze still as if he was seeing Mash for the first time.

"You… are a Demi-Servant now?" Romani was clearly at a loss, "But… how?"

"When Senpai… Senpai and I rayshifted, someone talked to me," she sent an apologizing glance at me. How cute, she thought I was angry at her for not telling me. Truly, such pure emotions were a thing of legends among mundane humans, "I don't remember the details but, when I regained consciousness, I was like this."

"Incredible, your-Oooooh, what a sight!" The hologram flickered, before the startled face of Dr. Roman was replaced by a breathtaking visage, causing me to force down the giddy scream that started to bubble somewhere deep within me. Da Vinci herself has graced us with her presence.

"Good, good, I knew that the experiment was destined to succeed, of course!" A bright smile shined through the dimension, seemingly illuminating the burning city with something other than fire, "I'm waiting for you to come to my Workshop for a checkup as soon as you return, and no buts! I can't wait to see more! Though, being a genius such as I, I have already made some assumptions."

"And, oh my, what an interesting signature," her eyes trailed all over me before she nodded in content, "Yes, truly a challenge worthy of my skill. Ah, I see you've already found an ascension material? Good job! Those will come in handy when Chaldea starts to fill up with new Servants. When you get back, I'll make a few tweaks to your uniform, so you could locate them and send directly here."

"Ah, it's an honor to meet you, Da Vinci." I had to physically force myself to talk in words and not awed squeals.

"Oho! You recognized me just by looking?" There was some shuffling on the side of the call, and I saw Da Vinci's image slightly twitch before one of her arms shifted its angle, as if holding something at bay, "Ahem, as I was saying, it is only natural for one of my genius to be so easily recognized. Though it could be an issue if I were to ever be summoned in a Holy Grail War… Anyway! It's been a pleasure meeting you, Damien, but it seems something is actively trying to sabotage our connection. It's not very strong as it is, so you better hurry to the leyline! The coordinates have already been sent to your map. See you soon!"

The image disappeared for a second before re-establishing itself, "Go…uck!" Dr. Roman's face vanished just as fast as it appeared in the first place, leaving Mash and me alone in the burning city once again.

"Senpai, I have just received the coordinates. Should we move out?" Mash turned to me, her face determined though slightly put off after the recent conversation. I had to admit, I expected an introductory talk with Romani, not… that. But it was an experience that I'd treasure nonetheless.

Striking a proud pose, with my chin lifted high and chest popped out as much as humanly possible, I waved the long bone in my hand like a scepter, "Autobots, roll out!"

Mash shot a confused look in my direction, before shaking her head with a kind smile. It was honestly the most adorable thing I've ever seen, after Fou, but, before my hand reached out to pat her head, a sudden sense of vertigo overtook me and the world around _blurred_.

Seconds later I found myself on one of the remaining relatively intact roof trying to hold my stomach from going on a vacation outside of my body. I wasn't motion sick per se, but rapid and convoluted movement could easily make me so. It took me a few moments to reign in my stomach, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a massive crater in the place we've occupied just now. Glimpse because my vision was entirely engulfed by Mash's body, and shield, as something slammed into it, causing her feet to dig two trails on the roof.

After brief consideration, thankfully the shock didn't let me panic, however that worked, I remembered that Archer was the first one to 'greet' the protagonist with a volley of arrows almost immediately upon their arrival. Shit.

Another wave of force pushed us even further backward, and I reflexively tried to provide support for her by leaning in with all my strength. I clearly understood that my actions were pretty much useless in a battle between Servants, but Mash was still new to the whole fighting thing, so she needed whatever support I could give her. Granted, I was new to it too, but I've spent the greater part of my life dreaming and fantasizing about epic battles and heroic deeds. Perhaps it didn't actually help me, but it did allow me to get accustomed to the protagonist's role more easily.

Arrows came one after the other, and even though I couldn't see them, I definitely felt them. A quick glance back told me that we didn't have a lot of time until we hit the edge of the room, and the moment Mash's shield acquired a single opening, she, or I, would be dead on the spot. I had to think of something and think _fast_. It was the time to do my job as a Master, dammit!

Alright, so. The primary objective was to survive, which meant getting as far away from Archer as possible or otherwise prevent him from shooting at us. Up on the roofs we were like fish stuffed in a barrel, thus we needed to get down. I could see where the arrows were coming from, so I assumed that our assailant was directly in front of us. What to do, what do…

Mash was a Servant, so she was much sturdier than me. However, one of her Skill should provide a degree of protection to the allies she's currently defending. In other words, if things went South, I could probably survive a single arrow hitting a non-vital spot. Probably. Maybe…

"God bloody dammit, Shirou… Get back in the kitchen!" And so, with a mighty roar of defiance, I prepared to tell Mash to grab me and run, with the shield covering her back, when the artillery rounds EMIYA called arrows suddenly stopped coming. Mash and I waited a few more seconds with baited breaths, before I snapped out of it, "Mash, get me and run to the leyline!"

"R-Right, Senpai!" That was the only warning I received before the world blurred around me once again. Thankfully, this time I was a bit more prepared, so instead of trying to hold my guts inside my body, I attempted to appreciate the blazing landscape that showed itself to me in all of its glory. Mash was jumping from roof to roof, or rubble to rubble rather, so I could properly have a look and the legendary city. And Fuyuki was indeed legendary.

Even if it was just anime, or VN, simply imagination for others, it was now life for me. This was real, and I was here –take that, suckers– so the buildings that blurred beneath had witnessed literal history happen. Four, or five, I didn't remember the Grand Order backstory very well, Holy Grail Wars on these very grounds. Legendary Heroes ducking it out with Might and Magic. And now this place was destroyed. Well, technically it wasn't real in the first place because Singularity, but those were semantics. In a way, I liked the symbolism: the city that harbored Heroic Spirits for so long was giving its right, its legacy to me. Every end leads to a beginning. The story of Fuyuki was ending before my very eyes. And mine was just about to begin.

A muted crash attracted my attention, and I briefly saw a black shape crash into one of the buildings, then _through it_, and into another one, all accompanied by a roar so mighty I felt it even from such a massive distance. When Mash landed on the next roof, I felt her lower her arms, but instead of leaving my –very, very comfortable– transport, I just looked up at her.

"Ignore it." My monotone voice visibly startled Mash, and she looked down with confusion on her face.

"Senpai?" Hm, I really wasn't in the mood for gameplay, all the philosophy forcing the more nihilistic parts of my psyche into the forefront of my mind.

"No, Mash, seriously. Just ignore it," still bearing witness to her cute and clearly lost expression, I sighed, "Before our mutual friend sees us again and provides some extra ventilation for my brains."

Now that snapped her back to action. The rampaging beast of a Servant was temporarily forgotten, and we resumed our journey. Here and there I saw skeletons freeze and look up at whenever we passed them by, but they were too slow and 'deactivated' as we left their immediate vicinity. Overall, the trip was pretty calm, with no more sudden attacks or interruptions. Though, I was pretty sure I caught a whiff of something white in the corner of my eye, but I was sure it was nothing important. There were also quite a lot of skeletons swarming around the area, and I was really distracted by the sheer comfort provided by Mash's proximity to really concentrate on anything. No one has ever, _ever_ hugged me like this. It felt nice.

Oops.

Lost in thought, it came as a surprise to me when we stopped. I was gently lowered and hopped off Mash's arms on the solid ground. A quick observation confirmed that this indeed was the point where the protagonist has established the summoning circle. A truly gigantic crater all but confirmed this place to be the Ground Zero. After nodding to myself, I turned to Mash, already feeling the excitement swell up within me.

"Alright then, Mash!" I couldn't exactly keep the cheer from leaking into my voice, but I guessed it wasn't a big deal, "Is this the point Romani specified?"

Mash brought up her left arm, and a hologram, similar to the one Dr. Roman and Da Vinci appeared as, sprung up before us. I made a double take at the sight of it, as I was honestly not expecting it to look exactly like the Fuyuki map from Fate/Grand Order. All well, it wasn't that big an issue, just surprising somewhat.

"That's right, Senpai! We can finally establish a proper connection with Chaldea!" I saw her freeze for a second before blushing furiously, "Ehm, w-would you know how to do it, Senpai?"

First of all, cute. Second of all, huh? It was actually surprising that Mash didn't know how to establish an HQ. She did so pretty easily in the game. I mean, I remembered that she had to put her shield on the ground and do something with it, it clearly required no input from the protagonist whatsoever.

"Well, no, I can't say I do… Do you have any ideas at all?" Oh, that's right, it was explained by Olga Marie, who isn't with us right now. Also, it appeared that was too exhausted to go looking for her, and it was probably already too late. The time, that is. It was night and I was tired.

"I remember Da Vinci talking about it, I think… Something about my shield, maybe?" She looked unsure, but I inwardly rejoiced. I didn't have to 'guess' something I wasn't supposed to have any idea about, so that was a big plus.

"Hm, you could try putting it on the ground and channeling Prana into it?" I put my hand to my chin as if pondering in thought, "We should set up a camp here, either way, I must admit all this heat is starting to get to me."

"Senpai!" The bundle of pink was immediately in my face, which I would've appreciated greatly if not for the truly concerned eyes that were now a few centimeters away from my own, "You should've told me earlier! I'm a Demi-Servant, so I am much more resistant to heat and exhaustion. Unlike you!"

She… she was really worried for me, wasn't she? Genuinely, undoubtedly worried. I felt my heart clench painfully. Will all my Servants react this way whenever I show weakness? Care, concern… I had to pay it back somehow. I–, They were too good for this world, for any world, to be this worried for someone like me! For just a simple, despicable human!

Led by a sudden burst of emotion, I felt my arms wrap around her and squeeze as hard as I could as if I was trying to become one with her. I maintained the posture seemingly for all of eternity, the heated from the fires slowly receding before the heat of the body in my arms. She was pretty, I knew that, but at this very second, it was completely beside the point. This person in my arms cared for me. People only cared for their family. Family by blood, family by bond… but no one else. Friends, acquaintances, strangers, they were just a contest between gains and losses. Numbers on the page. People were just like that, and I was no different.

But she considered me a family. And so, there was only one thing I could do in return, my inner sense of Justice _screaming_ for me to do it. I hugged her as strong as I possibly could, something only family deserved to experience, a true show of emotion. To my infinite surprise, and elation, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my back, awkwardly at first but quickly becoming more and more steady.

"…Family…" A whisper left my mouth, immediately being dispersed by the winds, "We're Family now…"

"Senpai?" I had no family in this place before now. The moment my Wish came true, the moment the plotline of Fate/Grand Order began, I was left all alone. Humanity was destroyed, and I became its only hope. And my parents, my family were probably destroyed with it. Definitely even. Would you look at that, I killed my own family because I wanted to experience some adventures! Now wasn't that JUST HILARIOUS?!

I laughed. Right then, right there. Hugging someone who was a bunch of pixels on the screen mere days ago, among the burning city atop mountains of corpses. I laughed and poured my soul all out, tremors running across my body from the contradiction between the pleasure coming from the flesh, and the pain rising from the soul. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed–

"Senpai!" The hug was suddenly cut short and two orbs of purest purple eclipsed my world, "Are you alright, Senpai, answer me?!"

"Yes, Mash, I'm okay," I forced out a smile which appeared surprisingly naturally, "I just remembered a funny joke. You know how they are. Jokes."

I chuckled and brought my hand up, which gently landed on her head and started messing up her hair. That heart-wrenching look of concern for someone like me was slowly fading, replaced by surprised indignation.

"Senpai!" My hand was throw off, perhaps a bit too strongly, but I paid it no heed. There was an uncertain pause, "Are you sure you're okay?"

No, that simply wouldn't do, that face is not something I wished to see on my Servants. My new Family. But first…

"I am," the sheer conviction in my voice must've, well, finally convinced. And I truly was okay. I have just realized something, so to speak, "Hey, Mash?"

"Yes, Senpai?" She now stood about a meter away from, the personal space successfully reestablished. She had a faint blush on her cheeks again, perhaps from the heat, perhaps from the general awkwardness of the situation.

"We _are_ Family now, are we not?" I just wanted to make sure. Convince myself this wasn't a dream, that I wouldn't be waking any time soon. Or ever.

She looked unsure. This… this was more acceptable than the concern. It still hurt, but this was the way things should be, I guessed. I inwardly sighed. Ah, the world was back in order now. But then why did it hurt so m–

"We are," I stood there paralyzed. We were Family? But…! "Yes, we are, Senpai."

A smile. A smile so bright and brilliant that all of my troubles seemed to simply disappear, drown in the depths of oblivion. I tried to smile back, but I knew it came out wrong. Twisted, crooked. Probably repulsing even. But she accepted it nevertheless. Like Family. Like a Servant. Man, those concepts really were related, weren't they? So many broken people, crushed by their dreams… I fit right in, didn't I?

"Awesome!" I felt elated, ascended even, but now was not the tie for that. From now on, I had a Family to care for. My Servants. Their legends, their legacy depended on the survival of humanity. Perhaps not their existence, as the Throne of Heroes lied outside of Time and Space, who would know of their deeds should be no humans left? Who would sing songs, and tell tales of their lives and accomplishments? "Well then, now that that bit is over, let's finally set up the base, yeah?"

"Right!" mash nodded resolutely and carefully put her shield down. I felt _something_ gather around her lithe form and pump into the armament. The world around us glowed blue, so similar yet so different from the time we were rayshifed. Whereas back then it was cold blue, mechanic even, this one was soft, a sparkling energy enveloping us in a tight embrace.

Three rings of lighting circled around us, as Mash stood up and looked around us with wonder. And a breathtaking view it indeed was. I could only imagine how a single dot of bright blue energy looked among a sea of red. A sudden crack of static snapped us back to reality, just in time to be greeted by the grinning, yet worried, face of Dr. Roman.

"Finally! The connection stable, what happened over there?!" He leaned in, shoulder vanishing from the construct, as only his head remained, "We had a sudden spike in Damien's life-monitoring system, is everything alright?"

"Ah, yes," I butted in before Mash could respond, "We have indeed encountered an Archer Servant, though not personally. Everything is great now, how are things on your end?"

"Oh, that's… That's good to hear," Romani glanced to his side before slightly shaking his head. I wondered what was that about, "I guess I should give an update on our side too. The fires were mostly put out, so Chaldea is safe for now. Unfortunately, we have a lot of casualties on our hands. Over half of our staff is dead and counting, and we still can't find any trace of the Director. Or Lev," he sighed, "Well, you have bigger things on your plate right now, so worry about the Singularity first. Let me give you a brief rundown: You are in Fuyuki City, the place where the Holy Grail Wars were being held. I believe it's around twenty oh-four as of now if our sensors are telling the truth. Anyway, judging by the current state of the city, something clearly went wrong. The fact that something that wasn't supposed to happen happened created such a Singularity, and it's our job as Chaldea Security Organization to deal with it, and restore order to Human History. Of course, I'm not asking you to do it alone, no one could, so I'm going to connect your base, and Mash's shield by extension, to the FATE System. Just in case you forgot, it lets us draw upon the Throne of Heroes to summon, well, Heroes. Unfortunately, we're low on energy right now, so supporting them will be mostly on you, which means unless you want to horribly die, you can only summon a single Servant. We should repair some of Chaldea's systems just in time for your arrival, Da Vinci's already working on it, so you'd be able to field more Servants at the same time. But for now, this is on you. Any questions?"

Mash and I looked at each other before turning back to Romani and shaking our heads in sync. That… was a surprisingly professional speech. Did he practice it?

"Ouch, you know I can see your surprised faces, right?! Mou, so mean… Anyway, your objective right now is to discover the source of this Singularity and eliminate it. If you don't, who knows what could happen to humanity? Maybe, a butterfly would sit on another tree branch. Or maybe, all of humanity could be gone. Who knows?" He focused back on our blank faces, though something about that last part resonated with me, "Aha, anyway! Eliminate the Singularity and everything should be fine! And guys…"

This time, the look on his face was deadly serious. No trace of his usual mirth, or awkwardness, it was the face of a commander telling his soldiers to go on a suicide mission, hard as stone and bare as bone.

"Come back in one piece. We will be waiting. Chaldea Headquarters, out." He flickered, and the hologram died out.

I looked at Mash and saw her eyes readily meet mine. There was nothing else to do for now. The moment of truth. In complete silence, I extended my right arm and the energy around me crackled with renewed vigor. For the first time since my awakening, I saw my Command Seals. Burning deep crimson, something that belonged out there, with the hell currently reigning within the city.

Two horizontal eyes, each made from a single line, that looked like sixes (or nines, depending on how you looked at them) interweaved their 'tails' in a parody of the Yin-Yang symbol. And in the middle, as if piercing through them both, was an arrow pointed in the direction of my fingers. Or rather, I understood in a bout of self-discovery, it was pointing in the direction my hand was facing at the moment. Always unknown, constantly eluding me, and never set in stone. I kind of liked that.

"Are you ready, Senpai?" A resolute voice asked from behind my shoulder, Mash's usual timidity gone as if we were in the middle of combat.

"Fou, fou!" Of course, he was here, because why not? I smiled at the fluffy critter, even though he probably couldn't see it. He was a part of our team now… a part of the Family.

"I was born ready, Mash." My grin turned feral as I felt the hairs on my back rise, slightly tickling me, "Now… Let's do this!"

The summoning circle suddenly shimmered into existed right above the shield. Beautiful runic scriptures stretching and twisting among each other, the first instance of real magic that I have ever witnessed. I wasn't trained in Magecraft, I could even barely feel my Prana now, something I'd have to rectify as soon as possible, but for now, I just enjoyed the feeling of being gently guided by the forces beyond my understanding.

Like a skill that I've been practicing since my birth, I felt the energy that swirled within me and let it out. With a deep hum, my Command Seals began to sizzle, the ruby glow intensifying tenfold. I pushed out the Prana into the circle, gazing in wonder as it spun faster and faster until it became a blur of blue light. The three circles surrounding us sped up as well as if revolting against the very idea of losing the 'race.'

Then, in one breathtaking motion, the light converged on a single spot and _exploded_ outwards, raising up a dust cloud in the process. My heart hammering in my chest, I lightly coughed as I looked deep within the cloud with bated breath.

There was a red blur, and the veil was gone, blown off to the side with sheer force. What I saw next caused me to throw my head back and laugh in giddy excitement. Even as I started clapping, three pairs of eyes only looked at me in confusion: one little and beady, like spheres of fragile glass, another a shade of lovely violet, mirth slowly mixing into the incredulous stare, and the third… The third was crimson red.

"Well, Master, not to say I'm not honored with a such a greeting, but perhaps some explanations are in order?" A man in his twenties raised a single eyebrow at me, his dark blue ponytail flapping in the wind, "Bah, I guess I have to get over with the official part first… My True Name is Cu Chulainn, from Ulster. Point me at the enemy, and the Fangs of Culann's Hound shall tear them apart!"

He was clad in heavy armor lined with white fur. Two pauldrons, one normal and one that would've made a Space marine proud, chainmail with bits of full plate covered his entire form except for the head. Hell, even his boots were made of metal! Really badass-looking metal, but metal nonetheless, though it was wrapped in bandages for extra awesome factor. The overall armor looked like it severely limited the movement range of just about anyone wearing it, but I knew for sure that for Cu's A+ Agility such things were but a nuisance.

As if to confirm his proclamation, the legendary spear danced in between his fingers, leaving gashes in the ground with no visible resistance whatsoever. It finally landed on his shoulders, and his youthful face flashed an eager grin to meet my own.

"I'm glad to hear that, Cu Chulainn, I am Damien, Master of Chaldea Security Organization, and this is Mash. She is my first Servant, even though she is a Demi-Servant. We are tasked with the preservation of Human History, and are currently residing in one of the tumors that seek nothing but its destruction," I spread my hands to the sides in imitation of one of my favorite Fate characters, "So rejoice, for you were summoned to save Humanity itself!"

The second eyebrow rose to join the first, and a throaty chuckle resonated across the crater, "Oh man when you put it like that, there is no way that a Hero like me could ever say 'No'! Alright, I'm on board. Your orders, Master?"

"We have just established a base, so our current goal is to rest. Mash, if you could set up the camp while I'm explaining the exact situation to our newest addition?" She nodded and crouched down in front of her shield, series of holograms appearing from nowhere right in front of her. Meanwhile, Cu and I walked a few meters away to give Mash some space, "So, first things first – welcome Home! Or to Chaldea, rather. I hope that we'll all become one big Family as the time goes by and we get to know each other better."

"Brotherhood of arms, eh?" Surprisingly, the Irish Heracles was almost the same height as me, just a couple centimeters taller, so as we walked I could easily meet his eyes, "Can't say I dislike the idea! So, what's up with this lovely place? I could've sworn I wasn't Christian."

"Ah, let me welcome you to the wonderful city of Fuyuki then. We are in a… pocket dimension, of a sort, one where history was derailed from what it should've been. This place was famous in certain circles for hosting the Holy Grail War _five times_. Since we've already encountered two Servants so far, before summoning you, I think it is safe to say that something went very, very wrong at some point," I made a pause to check if he was following my explanation. Cu seemed to be pondering about something, but, upon noticing my gaze, he just nodded, so I continued, "Our current goal is rather vague as of now. We have no idea what causes these Singularities, so in order to eliminate it, we have to find the source first. Hopefully, there are still some survivors around, so we could ask what exactly happened. That's pretty much the entire plan for now. Any questions?"

Child of Light closed his left eye as he scratched his chin in thought, but then looked at me and shrugged, "Not really, no. Search and destroy, as simple a mission as could be. Though I do hope that we run into someone fight-worthy sooner than later."

"Oh, I'm sure there will be plenty of that," I had to hastily force down a yawn, my body suddenly feeling extremely sluggish, "But for now, we rest. Relax and prepare for the upcoming battles."

My attempts to divert his attention away from my tiredness failed miserably. He just shot an amused smirk at me, then turned around and suddenly released a clearly impressed whistle. When I followed his eyes to see what was up, I felt myself briefly pause in shock too. What was once a barren wound on the face of Earth, was now a veritable camping base. Three spacious tents, spread in a line, were placed on the edge of the crater near us, a bonfire already blazing beneath a steaming pot.

Mash, still in armor, was currently stirring said pot, all while checking the list she held in her other hand every few seconds. A plastic table, big enough for all three of us, was set up next to the fire and already had bowls and spoons placed on it.

Cu whistled again, and I lightly chuckled, before we headed in the direction of the camp. Mash heard us approaching, and send a brief smile our way before refocusing her attention on the cauldron. The delicious smell of some kind of soup entered my nose, and I sped up. Cu, I noticed, did the same, so when we finally reached the table, we were half-walking half-running awkwardly.

Hound of Ulster and I tried to help Mash with pouring soup into the bowls, but she cut us off before we could even start talking.

"Master is tired as it is right now," goddammit, "And you have just been summoned. It would make for a terrible greeting to assign you to cooking duty right off the bat. So please, enjoy this meal, and then, Senpai," she sent me a glare. _Mash_ had just sent me an honest to god glare! "You will rest. No objections."

We returned to the table and sat down in awkward silence. And what was there to say? Cu was probably used to being whipped by women (hard not to be when dealing with Scathach, admittedly), but for me, it was a completely novel experience. I mean, I loved my parents and my parents loved me, so I was likely somewhat spoiled as a child. Maybe, I didn't really have any examples to compare myself to.

I suddenly realized that something like this could've easily happened back home. Well, except that my dad was the one cooking, not my mom. A rush of emotions was quickly suppressed and stuffed deep inside my mind, something I've had a lot of experience with. A slight tightening of my throat was the only sign that something happened. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice, so I just continued smiling as Mash finally set our meals on the table.

We ate in comfortable silence, the chicken soup proving to be a delightful way to satisfy the stomach. When we finished, both Cu and I honestly thanked Mash for a wonderful meal before moving to help her with the dishes. Unfortunately for me, while Cu Chulainn managed to insist on helping ("I'll die from boredom otherwise, let me do something!"), I was once again glared at and sent off to sleep.

To my great annoyance, the moment I tried to protest that everything was fine, my treacherous mouth opened in a mighty yawn, one that I was too tired to notice before it was too late. So, sent off to the tent in the middle, I did the one thing I had a habit of doing whenever something unfortunate, but not exactly bad, happened – grumbled to myself.

Grumbling was my primary way to deal with all and any offenses done onto me by others. Whenever I was denied something, I grumbled. Whenever I felt neglected during a conversation, I grumbled. It was as much of a defensive mechanism against people as nihilism was one against everything else.

I shook myself out of such nasty thoughts. I was living the dream, having an adventure of my own here! There was no time to grumble and philosophize. I pushed the tent flap open and looked around my lodging for the night. I was no stranger to sleeping bags, being a regular LARPer and all that, so the sight of a warm human-sized sock only filled me with nostalgia. A separate space for my shoes right at the entrance was graced with harboring my boots for the duration of my sleep.

I finally let out a yawn I was holding back, then rubbed my jaw when something clicked there. Stupid fragile human body… I took off my uniform, leaving only boxers and a plain white t-shirt, before climbing into the sleeping bag. The feeling of warmth and comfort immediately overtook me, and, as I closed my drooping eyes, my mind slowly drifted off into Morpheus' lands…

A few seconds later I was back up on my legs and, without putting anything back on, poked my head out of the tent. It was still 'night' outside (I wasn't sure that such a thing as 'day' even existed in this Singularity at all), but I could clearly see the forms of Mash and Cu busy with washing the dishing over an improvised sink.

I was about to yell, but then I remembered a rather vital ability granted to all Masters upon becoming such. A moment of prodding inside my head, and I was rewarded with the feeling of Prana coursing through my veins. Well, magical circuits, but whatever. I 'pushed' it into my Command Seals, focusing on delivering the message to my Servants.

_"Mash, Cu Chulainn. Have a good night!"  
_  
Judging by their startled twitches, it worked. I cheerfully waved at them the moment they looked in my direction, and went back to the sleeping back, giggling to myself along the way. Truly, this was the adventure that I wished for, full of dreams, struggle, and camaraderie…

And I would let _nothing_ prevent me from enjoying it to the fullest.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

_I open my eyes in complete darkness. My mind floats in the unending void, silent nothings pressing on the edges of my consciousness, whispering promises of rest and relaxation. Suddenly, a tiny mote of light shines through the veil of oblivion. As big as a grain of sand, it is still enough to pierce the monotone blackness. The wisp slowly moves right in front of my nonexistent 'face' and I hear quite chirping, like a choir of a thousand birds, euphoric music to my ears, as the light starts to shine brighter. Calm overtakes my existence, all worries fading away under the stern glare of the tiny light._

_My real eyes flutter open. The sky, so blue and pure, expands above like an upside-down bowl. I feel the warmth on my skin, sunlight softly knitting my wounds and purging my fears. A quick hop, the motions practiced thousands upon thousands of times before, and I stand firmly on my legs. A quick look around reveals a vibrant grassland with a dense forest beginning near the horizon. I shake my head. Now is not the time for sightseeing. The enemies are at our doorstep, and I've just wasted time lying around on the grass._

_I clench my fists and realize that all my wounds are healed. A grin works its way onto my face, and with a swift motion my trusty spear springs into my hand. Hopefully, it's not too late to join the fight. The muscles in my legs coil and a shattering boom echoes through the clearing as I dash towards the besieged city._

_The sea of grass is soon replaced by the ocean of trees, and I have to adjust my footing to maneuver around the thick trunks. Fortunately, Mentor's torturous methods were extremely effective, and such a minuscule impediment did nothing to slow me down. Suddenly, a gigantic tree, as tall as fifty men appears right before, though I have no idea how I could've not noticed it. Unable to get out of the way at my speed, I throw my arm forward. A streak of crimson whistles through the air, and I safely jump over the falling tree._

_A few minutes of sprinting finally bring me before the Ulster war camp. An uneasy feeling overcomes the moment I lay my eyes on the wooden wall. Something is wrong. Gripping my spear with both hands, I approach the creaking gates and take a look inside. My blood freezes cold within my body._

_Bodies. So many bodies of proud warriors of Ulster, lying broken on the ground. Youths, none older than me, all covered in their own blood. My knuckles grow white as my hold on the spear's shaft tightens. These brave fools must've come to my aid, trying to help me in my battles against Queen Medb's army._

_With a tired sigh, I approach the nearest body and close its eyes. I stand up and walk to the next one, repeating the procedure. And the next one. And the next. After the last warrior's soul is laid to rest, I drop on the ground and lean against a torn wall of some tent. For the first time since my arrival, I am able to take in not just the people, but also the camp itself._

_Bonfires put out by the rivers of blood. Tents ripped open, their inhabitant probably murdered in their sleep. Or dragged away for public executions. And trails hoof prints filled with crimson liquid. My teeth clench almost painfully as I come to a chilling realization. These mangled bodies aren't the result of a simple battle. They were trampled like animals. It wasn't even a fair fight!_

_With a helpless roar, my fist crashes into the ground causing the debris to fly in every direction. These people were robbed of their right to die in battle! Because of me! Because of my inability to fend off Medb on my own! And…_

_And because of those blasted spawns of Connacht… I spring up, my nails digging in my weapon strong enough to draw blood. I follow it with my eyes as it slowly drips down to join with the pools that leaked from the bodies. The world becomes muted. This blood… I find it lacking. It needs more. I need more!_

_I sharp inhale delivers all the information I need. The scent of meat and alcohol. My ears twitch as they catch something that doesn't belong in this land of silence. Cheers. My mind working in overdrive, I immediately reach the infuriating conclusion: a feast. A feral grows sounds somewhere in the distance but I pay it no heed. I have my target. My prey._

_I enter the forest once more. This time I ignore the trees, bursting through them like through empty air. Some splinters try to lodge themselves into my body but to no avail. My anger protects me. It slithers up my arms, burrows into my flesh, worms its way through my heart. Encases me in an armor of fury._

_I hear screams. I hear snaps as something tries to poke my body. The armor is too strong. Every swipe of my hand calls out for more wails of agony. I feel blood. It is not mine. I grin beneath the helm of black bone and shoot my arm forward. I feel something struggling in my hand and crush it without thought. More screams. More blood. Screams. Blood. The Spear sings to me…_

_I open my eyes. Enemies. They cloud the sky. They point their steel at me. They scream their war cries. But they look so small… Pitiful. Pathetic. They are not worthy of being killed by my hand like true warriors. My leg slides back, claws digging deep trenches into the earth. I rear my arm, the Spear held tight. The song grows stronger. The lust. Oh, how it lusts for blood…_

_I greedily devour the pain, the despair, the suffering, just like horizon consumes the setting sun. A grin. A laugh. The Spear. Death._

_"_**GAE BOLG!**_"  
_

The process of waking up has always been extremely aggravating to me. My eyes slowly opened, and I bore witness to the plain ceiling of the tent I was sleeping in. I idly observed the folds and wrinkles, all while snuggling in the comfortable warmth of the sleeping bag. My body relaxed, whatever tension I had leaving my sore muscles.

Eventually, I remembered that I wasn't exactly camping in the woods, but saving humanity. With a tired sigh, I stretched as hard as I could before extracting my still sluggish body from the tempting confines of my voluntary prison. As I started to put on my clothes, a yawn so wide my jaws hurt split my face, so I had to let go of my pants to force my mouth closed. Now held by just one hand, the pants flapped down under the unbending will of gravity. This event caused a crimson bone to fall out from between the folds, a movement that immediately caught my attention.

After staring at it for a couple seconds, I remembered that one bone I picked up from the mound of skeletons that was the result of Mash' first battle encounter. Just looking at it gave me a weird unsettling feeling deep in my heart. Mesmerized, my hand reached out to pick it up, despite my mind's weak protests. Weak not because it was truly suppressed in some way, but I was honestly curious about what would happen if I touched it.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I was interrupted by a cheerful voice seeping through the walls of my tent.

"Senpai, good morning! The breakfast is almost ready."

I slightly jumped, startled, as I had no idea anyone could be so close to my resting place. It took a few seconds for my heart to stop pounding erratically. I shook my head in discontent. I was too used to sleeping alone, in a safe place. This was a warzone, where second lost could spell our defeat and, by extension, the demise of humanity as a whole. This whole experience just might leave me sleep deprived…

Even as I finished dressing up and put the red bone in the corner of my tent, the ominous realization never left me. If I make a mistake, humanity is doomed. This was my story, my adventure. Therefore, it was only natural that the foe and the stakes were worthy of my quest. And yet, the sheer responsibility left me nervously gulping as I stared at the entrance flap.

There, beyond that thin piece of cloth was the burning land full of enemies lusting for my, and my allies', blood. And if they got it… I swallowed the suddenly thick saliva and pushed the flap open with a bit more force than necessary. It shook in the steady wind as I passed through, the now familiar view of the blazing Fuyuki laid bare before my eyes.

Movement not too far away from me instantly drew my eyes towards it, and I saw Cu Chulainn and Mash talking about something near the bonfire. Steaming bowls were already on the table, delicious scent somehow making its way through the heat and into my nostrils. Surprisingly, this scene invoked something within my soul, a compelling emotion slowly rising and expelling any and all anxiety.

This is what I will be fighting for. The happy smiles on my Servants' faces. The kind but slightly awkward smile Mash was sporting as she closed the lid of the pot. The toothy grin on Cu's face that was showing much sharper teeth than what you'd expect from a human. All other Servants I've witnessed during my time playing Fate/Grand Order appeared before my eyes, each bearing a smile that sent shivers down my spine.

The rhythm of my heart grew steady, and I made my way to the waiting Servants. Being superhuman and all, they noticed my approach right away, and I was greeted with a double 'Good morning, Senpai/Master!' Nodding to them both, we took our seats and starting eating. Unlike our previous dining, however, this one didn't go in silence.

"Senpai?" I looked up at Mash to see her with a spoon halfway between the bowl and her mouth, "I've been meaning to ask… When we met encountered Archer yesterday, why did you call him 'Shirou?' Is that his True Name?"

My hand froze halfway too. In the corner of my mind, I noted how Cu's eyes glinted with curiosity and swept in my direction. This was bad. This was very bad. I had no desire to reveal my otherworldly origin, not yet at least. This was my story dammit, and I was _not_ polluting it with my admittedly boring past. And now this caused a whole new can of worms to open.

Alright, I had to think fast. My primary objective was to play it off, preferably make them forget. Using Command Seals would be excessive, nor did I want to force my new Family to do anything so trivial. Mind games it was, then.

"As you probably know, I haven't been officially trained as a magus," and for some pretty solid reasons at that, unfortunately, "But I was still very interested in Magecraft itself. And one of the few connections I had with the Moonlit World was my obsession with myths and legends. In my search for the supernatural, I've stumbled upon a database of sorts, which happened to contain information about numerous Heroic Spirits. And among those was an Archer who shot swords from his mighty bow, some of which I managed to glean while they were bouncing off your shield. Though, regrettably, I've lost it before arriving to Chaldea. If only I knew how vital it could've been…"

There, perfect. Man, all those years of seeking loopholes in my own promises really boosted my deception skills. Good thing that Cirnopedia was a thing, a 'database of sorts' indeed. I stopped myself just before I started nodding in satisfaction at a job well done. A cursory glance at my audience revealed curious faces without an inch of doubt, just contemplation. I honestly felt kind of bad for deceiving them that, but it was a harmless lie which I planned to expose at some point anyway. If we were truly to become a Family, then no secrets were to be held. Because Family trusts each other, and stands as one, yes.

"Hm, that database of yours could've been a great help in our mission… Oh well, nothing you can do about it now," Cu shrugged his shoulders, then suddenly barked out a short laugh as he threw his head backward, "Just makes it that much more fun! Honestly, if we were aware of all our enemies' weak points, this whole venture of ours would've been too boring to properly enjoy!"

"While I think any help would be of use, what's done is done," Mash wisely nodded before her expression grew serious, "Regardless, we need to establish our plans for today. Senpai?"

Alright, bullet dodged. Now on to the main event!

"First we need to contact Chaldea. Mash, would you do the honors?" Nodding, she moved to tinker with her shield, and a few seconds later the blue hologram phased into existence, "Hi again, Dr. Roman."

"Ah, Damien! Glad to see you're all alright. And you summoned your first Servant too!" he smiled encouragingly, "Good job, he looks potent. I'll make sure to tell Da Vinci the good news later. So, what can I help you with?"

"We need directions. Can you give us any pointers?" There was no time to beat around the bush, I wanted to get to my adventure as soon as possible.

"Oh, ugh, give me a second…" Romani's face vanished to the sound of faint clicking and whispered conversations before appearing once again with a bright smile, "All done! Our sensors show that the focal point of the Singularity is located, umm, to your immediate right, I believe. There is supposed to be an uplifting of the terrain of some kind. A hill, perhaps?"

Knowing what I'd see, I nonetheless turned my head along with my Servants. As expected, a mountainous hill peeked from behind the burning rubble, a half-collapsed temple overseeing the city. I couldn't see it clearly, not with my rather poor eyesight, but even so, its familiar look touched a few strings in my heart. It looked exactly like it did in the anime, with the exception of fire and its current state of repair, of course.

"Well, looks like we've got our Mount Doom. Thanks, Doc." I gave a nod to the good doctor, who cheerfully returned it, and stood up, "Gear up, team, we're heading out!"

"After you finish your breakfast, surely?" Came from Cu's direction. As soon as I turned to see his amused face, Mash's glare came into view. Grumbling under my breath, I sat back down and started shoving spoonfuls of tasty porridge down my gullet.

"Yes… After I finish eating…" I mumbled and gave a stink eye to the Doctor, who was trying his best to muffle snickering.

"A-anyway! If there's anything else you need, please contact us." His smile was flickering between amused and concerned, "We cannot afford to risk your health, use every tool at your disposal. Cheers!"

The light dispersed and we continued to eat in silence. Eventually, the pot was empty, and, after thanking Mash for the food, we packed the tents. Mash tinkered with her shield a bit, and the packaged remnants of the camp vanished into thin air. Back to Chaldea probably.

"So, 'Doctor Roman,' was it? Have to admit, he looks like a wimp but sure knows his job well. Anyway, Master, we ready to go?" Cu was rhythmically tapping his foot against the ground, the legendary spear motionlessly resting upon his shoulder.

"That we are, Lancer," hands on my hips, I looked at my Servants, my heart slowly filling with pride and anticipation, "Alright, team. We have our objective, we have our destination. What we don't have is plenty of time, so we're heading out right now. Questions, comments, concerns?"

"None, Senpai. Servant Shielder ready for dispatch!" Mash's face was sculpted into a grim scowl of concentration. This very second she truly looked like the Knight whose armor she was wearing, if a bit skimpy.

"Same here," Lancer lazily waved his hand, "Can we go already?"

"On it," I smirked and struck a heroic pose, pointing at the mountain, "Roll out!"

Instead of playing along, these spoilsports just passed me and headed forward at a leisurely pace. Annoyed grumbling aside, I hurried to catch up to them. We were walking for a good few hours, wiping groups of restless dead here and there. Now that not one, but two Servants were covering my back, I felt no need to jump behind the nearest cover. Mash never left my side, swiftly deflecting those few skeletons that managed to sneak past the murder machine that was Cu Chulainn. The Child of Light looked like a crimson whirlwind as he moved through the hordes of undead.

I couldn't even catch the tip of his spear as it crushed and impaled anything that had the audacity to stand in his way. Gae Bolg seemed to howl in tune with the wind, a faint pressure of bloodlust descending upon the streets. This song of malice evoked some muted sense of nostalgia deep within me, but no matter how hard I racked my brain, I was sure it was the first time I've seen anything like this. Eventually, I waved it aside as inconsequential and just took the pleasure in watching Cu and Mash disassemble the boneheads.

We were slowly closing in on our target, the mountain's bulk looming ominously over the burning city when a loud rattling sound caused me to stumble. Quietly cursing, I dropped down to pick up the fallen cursed bones that I've been collecting in bulk after every fight. When I straightened and warily looked around, a knot formed in my stomach. Our path was blocked by a wall of chains. Now, I've seen the movie, so I knew who was about to appear. However, that hardly helped considering any wound from Harpe would essentially be fatal unless we dealt with Medusa right here and now.

The atmosphere was tense as my Servants immediately fell into formation, Mash right in front of me and Cu a bit to the side. The formation was flawed, but it was the best we could do with only two units capable of combat. The silence lasted for a couple minutes, only interrupted by Cu's steady breathing and the strain of Mash's gloves against the tower shield.

Faster than I could process, Cu's spear whistled through the air and deflected a dark blur with a resounding bang. When my eyes finally managed to focus on our assailant, Mash already took a new position between me and the attacker. Silence reigned once more, though this time it was broken mere seconds later.

"How interesting! I don't remember you lot being here before," glowing yellow eyes with vertical rectangular pupils burned into my very soul with their intensity. The Spear of Immortal Killing was carelessly held in-between elegant fingers, its curved tip hovering mere millimeters above ground, "Did you come to enjoy my garden? I've been getting fewer and fewer visitors lately, so I hope you'd be kind enough to make some… donations."

Ah, that's right. This Medusa had a garden full of humans turned to stone. Makes one wonder, actually, she obviously has the Mystic Eyes of Petrification but she never used them in a fight, at least not in the anime. That was rather silly if you ask me, such a weapon was great for keeping your opponent on their toes, weakening them, and finishing off with style at the right opportunity. So why didn't she use them?

Okay, let's think about it. This version was corrupted by Manjew, which implies cruelty, lack of mercy, and general batshit craziness by normal human standards. Huh. Well, that was easy. Of course, if you're as sadistic as they come, you just can't allow your toys to die out fast. You play, you hurt them, but you never deliver the finishing blow until you're bored. In other words, she was perfectly aware that, as a squishy human, I would drop dead just from a single glance from her. And where was the fun in that, right? Okay, case solved.

You know, those flames look like kittens dancing-

"Senpai, snap out of it!" with their little fiery whiskers, "Senpai!"

"I know, alright?! I know that there's a bloody field full of goddamned stone corpses, I was trying to distract myself! But oh so thanks for reminding about that wax sculpture museum, except made by Tim Burton!" I snapped.

Mash visibly recoiled from my shouting, flinching as if struck. Guilt instantly flooded my conscience, but before I rushed to apologize, another voice added more fuel to the shrinking bonfire of my panic attack.

"Ah, there it is. I was wondering when you'd notice my beautiful art. Though I must point out a flaw in your opinion," Medusa's voice was just enchanting as her appearance, and I felt as if a bucket worth of cold water was dropped on me. The panic was no more, I just wanted to listen to- "Those aren't corpses just yet."

And here it comes again!

"That doesn't make it any better, you sick fuck! And it's scientifically impossible! If their whole bodies are turned to stone, then they can't breathe and are dead! And if only their skin is affected then they still can't breathe because when lungs expand, they expand the whole thorax!" I shouted in denial, "So screw you and screw your magic, science says that they're dead and will stay dead!"

I was breathing heavily as I stared into the amused eyes of the youngest Gorgon sister. My heart was madly pounding in my chest and I felt as if my blood was set on fire right inside my veins. I tried my hardest to focus all of my attention on her, a task which her inhuman eyes and otherworldly beauty made rather simple, but even so, I could catch glimpses on the horror that stood behind her.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of humans, forever bound in stone. The statues were more realistic than any sculpture I've seen before, down to the freckles and tiny hairs visible on some arms. They looked as if they would move the very next moment, some dropping down crying, other continuing their desperate attack against the air. Except they wouldn't because they were all made of stone. Stone eyes, stone faces, stone hair, and stone tears. Stone blood. Many were even frozen in unusual positions, such as kneeling or trying to grasp the sun with both hands. Someone clearly took their sweet time arranging the exhibits.

This was going too far. Such disregard for human life was simply wrong and that me who's saying it! It was wrong, it was inhuman, it was mad! I–

A sudden impact sent me sprawling unto the ground. The tension never leaving my body, I froze, awaiting the finishing blow. It never came. Instead, a much worse fate awaited me.

"And that's the Master who summoned me? The one whom I saw grinning in the middle of a battle against swarms of walking dead? The one who gazed upon a devastated city and marveled at its beauty?" Lancer's voice pierced my panic like a finger of an angry God. I forced my neck to twist and saw him scowling at me from above. It hurt. It hurt more than falling on my face, more than that one time I almost broke my jaw. The fierce red eyes looked down on me with concern, impatience, and… disappointment, "Get your wits together, kid, this isn't the time to break down crying. Stand tall and take command, Humanity's Last Master."

Would you look at that. My first character development moment.

I took a deep breath and drilled my fists into the muddy ground. I winced as I picked myself up before dusting off my Chaldea uniform. Briefly closing my eyes, I tried to reassess the situation. One, Lancer Medusa was right in front of us, looking at me with a mixture of cruel amusement and idle curiosity. Two, Mash recovered from my earlier outburst and stood steadily between me and Medusa. Three, Cu Chulainn switched to a battle stance and was currently facing away from me.

Main Objective: Survive. Secondary Objective: Kill Lancer Medusa.

I breathed out, "Mash, stay close and protect me. Lancer, engage the enemy and estimate their prowess. Do not get wounded, we do not know what kind of Noble Phantasm that sickle might be. Go."

"Now we're talking," Cu smiled ferociously and took a much lower stance, Gae Bolg's bloodlust aura intensifying tenfold, "Here I come!"

Accompanied by the roar of the cracked earth and shattered sound barrier, Cu Chulainn shot towards Lancer Medusa like a cannonball. Clearly expecting such an outburst of speed, Medusa raised her weapon faster than I could track it and attempted to run Cu through. Digging his heels into the ground, he twisted his body and avoided the curved blade. The follow-up attack was as swift as it was brutal. Anticipating a strike with Gae Bolg's shaft, Medusa was completely unprepared for an armored knee to dig itself into her stomach.

Exploiting her surprise, Cu Chulainn rammed his spear into the ground for extra leverage and finished the spin, kicking the leg out as he did so. Within the first seconds of the fight, Medusa went flying into the nearby building and disappeared inside the wreckage. Silence reigned.

A quiet sigh left Cu's lips as he put his leg down and hefted Gae Bolg onto his shoulders.

"Is that it?" he spoke loudly with a clear touch of disappointment, "Have to say, when I was told what we're supposed to do, I expected stronger opposition. But oh well, I'll take what I can get."

The collapsed building twitched.

"So, lady, you gonna come here or do you want me to come to you?"

The rubble burst in a shower of debris and I couldn't even blink before a shockwave knocked me off my feet. It took me a second to realize that Medusa was within a striking distance from me, one side of Harpe pressing into Mash's shield and the other blocking Cu's spear. I could see Mash trembling as she tried to push back against the gorgon's strength. Medusa, on the other hand, was a picture of perfect serenity. No malicious smirks, no biting remarks or unrestrained bloodlust. Her slitted eyes calm and focused as she jumped back and prepared for another attack.

"Senpai, are you alright?!" Mash's voice was still strained a bit from exertion as she slightly tilted her head in my direction.

"Yeah," I managed to breathe out, "Sorry about before, and thank you."

I got back up and examined our adversary. She looked roughed up, her hair and clothes disheveled and sporting a few bruises here and there. The biggest giveaway that Medusa was not in perfect health was her ragged breathing, barely audible among the crackling of the fire. We were at a stalemate, I understood. Even though two Servants beat one and Cu seemed to be stronger in one on one combat, I was the weak link of our team. Cu was wary of rushing forward and leaving Mash and me behind.

The four of us just stood there, patiently waiting for someone to make a move first. Fortunately, we had something that would hopefully break the stalemate.

_"Mash, Cu, don't react. We'll use the mental link to discuss our plan of action."_

Saying anything out loud would likely set Medusa off, so any planning had to be done this way. I silently thanked whoever designed the Master-Servant link for a job well done. Makiris, Einzberns, it didn't really matter who, but they just might save us some effort here.

_"The plan is simple: Mash, you stay with me and be ready to intercept any assault. Cu, go and tear her a new one."  
_

It was like playing Magic the Gathering. If I attacked with all of my creatures at once, I'd have no way to block the incoming damage. If I waited for too long without attacking, the enemy would recuperate and find a way to beat me. In other words, I had to press the advantage, but not go all-out. Because here, unlike MtG, I had only one life and almost any hit from a Servant would send me packing to the afterlife.

_"On my mark. Ready. Steady…"  
_

They didn't show a single sign of hearing me. Good.

_"Go!"  
_

The street burst into motion. Cu shot forward, provoking Medusa to do the same, while Mash took a step back to stay closer to me. We didn't say a word as two Lancers went to town at each other, using any and every opportunity to tear out the enemy's throat. From what I managed to glimpse, Medusa employed a more fluid fighting style as I could barely see her move while she maintained the Servant-level speed nonstop. Cu, on the other hand, made his fans proud. There was no word to describe him fight other than "bestial." There was definitely some technique and style buried deep within him, but the only thing to pour out of his moves was raw animalistic fury. To an unenlightened in martial arts observer, such as myself, Cu Chulainn had one purpose only – damage.

In a contest of Speed versus Speed and Strength, the latter was winning. Cu was slowly gaining ground, delivering more numerous and deeper cuts to Medusa than vice versa. I eased the tension out of my body, My creature was definitely stronger than enemy's, _and_ I had another one on the defense. We didn't even need Caster Cu to show up for this.

I stood a bit straighter and simply enjoyed watching Cu kick ass and take names. Unfortunately, the wall of chains that stopped us in the first place had other plans. I felt only a brief tightening around my leg before the world was violently ripped from beneath me. A startled yell escaped me as I was overcome with vertigo and I felt my breakfast rising up to my throat. Fortunately, my position in space was fixed before I returned Mash's cooking to the world. Unfortunately, said position involved me being tightly wrapped in chains.

Still dazed, I could only blink at the hissing sound right below my chin. Angling my eyes down, I saw a veritable nest of steel and scales, chains and serpents interweaving and twisting around each other in some sort of a demented jigsaw puzzle. I heard Mash screaming right before something pressed against my neck. Two somethings, in fact, like tiny needles. With the clarity of mind slowly returning, I noted that I, in fact, had a snake digging its quite possibly poisonous fangs right into my neck.

I snapped my eyes open just in time to feel a sturdy palm slapping my cheek. I slowly raised my eyes to the source of disturbance, only to encounter two glistening orbs of violet.

"Senpai!" My unresponsive body was quickly but carefully hoisted straight, and I finally got a chance to observe the current situation.

Mash was currently supporting my weight with her body, the shield lying on the ground a couple of meters away. In fact, I saw a campfire near it. A clap on my shoulder caused me diverted my attention to Cu who had a relieved smile on his face and a piece of deliciously looking meat in his other hand.

"Good to see you're awake, Master. Had us worried there for a second." He put my free arm over his shoulder and, together with Mash, carried me to the fire.

When I was seated down, given a cup of green tea and a plate full of steak, I finally croaked out a question that's been trying to escape my throat for a while now.

"W-What happened?"

"Uhm," Mash suddenly started to look extremely apologetic and took a deep breath, "I failed to protect you and you captured by the enemy then bitten by a poisonous snake and passed out please forgive, Senpai!"

Wow. Talking is a free action, sure, but that was too much. Anyway, I did vaguely remember a snake. And… fighting Medusa?

"Are you alright?!" I couldn't quite reign my voice in, "Is anyone hurt?"

"Ah, no!" Mash waved her arms placatively, "Lancer defeated the enemy Servant and I was able to bust you out of the chains," her eyes went downcast, "But I panicked and, uh, used my s-shield to do it…"

Used her shield? I glanced down to see my body wrapped in layers upon layers of bandages and my neck held by some sort of collar. I placed the food plate on the table with a distinctive clank and carefully poked at the offending accessory. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt.

Actually, I didn't feel anything at all. I poked harder. Still nothing. Frowning, I lightly swung my fist at the table with released a dull thrum. Curious, I lifted my hand and waved it in the air. Not a thing.

"Am I on drugs?"

"Fou!" Huh? I glanced to the side to see the squirrel-thing nibbling on my meat. I was wondering where'd he go.

Cu huffed from the side and took a second to swallow his food, "The magus from Chaldea contacted us shortly after the fight ended. Apparently, you had some poison coursing in you and they had to teleport medical supplied en masse," he took another bite, "So you're supposed to not feel anything right now. The collar's my work by the way. They're making a proper one to fully contain the infection, but I used Runes to make a temporary replacement for now. I suggest you leave it there."

Filing away the information, I tentatively took a bite as well. Nothing. My hands couldn't feel the cutlery. My taste buds couldn't process the food. I slowly realized that my body felt strange. As if I was floating in the air, with no anchorage, and in a perfectly made skintight suit. Putting the food down, I tried to stand up. Mash had to catch from falling on my face after I jumped instead. In her arms, I shifted my gaze from my bandaged hands to her concerned eyes and back again.

"I'll go to sleep for now, if don't mind."

My voice sounded hollow. I wasn't terrified, I wasn't in pain, but I knew that something important was happening. As I was carefully led into my tent, I noted the absence of cursed bones that I picked up. Hopefully, they were sent to Chaldea. I would hate going into the Bone Mines.

Absentmindedly waving my Servants good night, I stared at the 'roof' of my tent. First real combat. Humiliated, bruised, beaten, and poisoned. What a wonderful start to my fantastic adventure. In my entire life I've never been truly damaged. No broken limbs. No shattered bones. Not a single injury so widespread among my generation. And for good reasons too. I've always hated taking risks. Why wouldn't I? Risks implied a chance of losing. If you lost, then someone won. If someone won, they were better then you. Breaking even a single limb meant being pushed into the 'defective zone.' Losing a single chance meant the same. Every single loss, every single flaw piled up until they bloated out your future. Such was the game of life, "The Weakest Link."

And now, look at me. I took the chance, embarked on my first great adventure. Took the greatest risk of my entire life. And lost. Badly.

My fist hit the bottom of the tent, tiny pieces of debris digging into my skin through the fiber. That is, they would be digging into my hand if it were capable of feeling anything. Another dull thud resonated as my hand collided with the ground. And another. And another. Another.

No pain.

Was I really willing to take such risks? Did I really want to put my life in the line? This was just Medusa. We had Demon Gods in front of us. Goddesses. Beasts.

Tiamat, an essentially unbeatable apocalypse on legs that was defeated only due to mind-bogglingly fortunate circumstances.

Goetia too. That one lost only because we had Roman in the game. And yet, all those losses he inflicted.

Roman, gone. Mash, gone. Fou, gone. Mash returned. The others didn't.

I remembered the statues of stone. I could've joined them then and there. Probably did too, since Kaleidoscope is a thing. Every corner hid an enemy. Every enemy brought death.

Was I willing to die for my own amusement? It all came down to my favorite game of them all: Cost and Benefit. Was joy worth dying for? Was life worth living without joy?

Some would say that there is no fate worth than death. Some would say that death is the salvation from a boring life. I'd say it depends. "Do what you like and like what you do," and all that. So the real question is: "Do I want to die?"

No. No, I don't.

I have a Family here. Family that will grow bigger with every summon. I have a purpose here: to defeat Goetia and save humanity. I didn't really care about humanity that much, but hey, a quest is a quest. So many new people to meet, so many benefits to reap. At least eight Holy Grails. Eight wishes. That was a lot. I'll use one to engrave my journey onto the Throne of Heroes, so none of them would forget. Another to gain access to the Kaleidoscope. Maybe wish for some other powers. And compared to that, sustaining some injuries was a non-issue. Who cares if I lose an arm if I get to make an almost omnipotent wish in the end?

Yes, that sounds about right. That light at the end of the tunnel, the sweet promise of glory and fortune that lures us forward. I could live with that. I could die for that.

It was worth it. My joy, the thrill in my bones, the boiling of my blood, the pumping of my heart, and the surge of adrenaline through my veins, they were all worth it. My adventure was worth it.

Consequences be damned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

_Pain  
_

"Thanks, Mash," I did my best to keep myself from wincing as I accepted today's breakfast, "You, uh, you guys feeling alright?"

_Pain_

"Yes! Lancer and I are in perfect condition and combat ready!" She looks kind of adorable when she's forcing herself to be serious, "But we need to wait for you to feel better before we can move out. Dr. Roman strictly forbid us from taking any actions before they supply you with a proper device to suppress the poison."

_Painpainapain_

"Great," I stiffly nodded, "Then, if you'll excuse me, I shall refill my stomach. This smells too delicious to pass up."

As I was busy digging into the food, memories of today's morning forced themselves unto the forefront of my mind. When I first woke up everything was fine. My whole body was still numb, so whatever damage I sustained from being poisoned and shield-bashed was kept at bay. When I tried to stand, however, I couldn't. My body simply refused to move. I tried to clench my fists, push against the ground using my legs, but not a single finger twitched. I think I panicked a bit, then.

Fortunately, I managed to suppress the budding scream, so I didn't have to deal with my Servants worrying too much about me. Of course, I wasn't suicidal, so if anything legitimately bad were to happen, I'd call for them. Nothing did, however, and after about an hour of staring at the tent flap, feeling started to return to my body. And with feeling came pain.

Saying that I felt as if my body was on fire would be a crime of an understatement. Pretty sure I passed out a couple times. Pain wasn't really something I had to deal with back before I was brought to Chaldea, so I guess my pain tolerance could be called rather low. Perhaps even atrocious. I didn't like pain and, judging by how much effort it took me not to break down crying, pain didn't like me.

Regardless, it abated after a while, or maybe I got slightly more used to it, and I managed to get out of my tent. So, here I am, trying to enjoy my breakfast without dropping on the ground and writhing in agony. Have to keep up the appearances and all that.

"I didn't get a chance to say it before, Master," Cu suddenly broke the silence, "But sorry about the injuries. My bad."

"No, it wasn't your fault," and that was a good thing, too, "I got careless and forgot that our enemy wasn't a single entity. The only one to blame is me."

"Senpai!"

"Good thing too," I repeated my thoughts out loud, stopping Mash before she could lose herself in worry, "It just means I'll avoid that mistake later on. Would be difficult to become a better man if wasn't my fault, eh?"

My miserable attempt at smiling seemed to do its job regardless, as Mash calmed down a bit and Cu shot me an amused grin.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" he winced a bit, "Still though, I should've finished her off sooner. Even if it felt wrong to use Gae Bolg during my first battle as your Servant."

"Your Noble Phantasm, Cu," I corrected him, "Enemies might be watching us, perhaps even right now. Revealing your trump card this early would be a grave mistake."

Struck with sudden inspiration, I rummaged my pockets to see if I could find any leftover bones to deliver the punchline. Unfortunately, it seemed that all of them were transferred to Chaldea, leaving me with a dangling joke.

"Yeah, you're right," Cu looked thoughtful, before breaking into a pensive smile, "Still wish I could've dealt with her faster. Turned out the scythe was kind of cursed, my cuts refused to heal until after I've dealt with her."

That's Harpe for you. It's not called the Spear of Immortal Killing for nothing. Whatever that was then and now is, well, now. I have to come up with a plan to beat Saber _and_ Archer, without Caster Cu no less. My body went rigid at the thought. Where was he anyway? He didn't show during our fight with Medusa, so he's either busy and canon took an enthusiastic walk, or he's dead and canon took an even more enthusiastic walk. If it's the former, our prime directive should be finding him first, because I'm unsure of our chancing of taking Salter on should we go in now.

Cu has Protection from Arrows, so he should be able to at least stall EMIYA. With Gae Bolg, he has a fair chance of defeating EMIYA and perhaps even joining us in time to fight Arturia Alter. However, I was unsure of what to do next. Despite the way she was painted in various fanfics, Arturia Pendragon is a bloody monster in human flesh, and even that's debatable. I refuse to believe that her Magical Core was the only thing she received from a _Dragon_ heritage. Her stats are through the roof, her Alter version could Excalipoke us basically at will, and her Instinct was a game-breaker in a completely different from the mobile FGO sense.

To be honest, I had only one plan right now: throw Cu at her and hope for the best. And, considering the visual novel, I'd have to Command Seal him into Gae Bolg-ing her a good couple times before she went down. In other words, Step One: Kill EMIYA, Step Two: Gae Bolg Arturia.

Seems legit. Now I just had to recover first and get rid of this _god damned pain _before we could finally finish the Prologue. And then we'd travel to France, Ancient Rome, Oceanus, London, America, Camelot, Ancient Mesopotamia, and, finally, Ars Paulina. Sounds rather dry in my head, but the adventures we'd have there would be things of legends, I'm sure.

Giving the empty plate back to Mash, I shakily stood up and began to stumble to my tent. Even though I'd rather deal with Salter as soon as possible, facing her in this condition would be tantamount to suicide, so I was forced to bide my time. I told my Servants that I'll be going to sleep and dropped into my sleeping bag, the pain carrying my pain away better than any drug.

The next time I woke up the pain was still there. It no longer felt like serrated spikes dipped in acid though, but more akin to having a swarm of termites building a hive inside your body. That is to say, it stopped being a distraction and started being a constant buzz in the back of one's head. Moving was still a, well, pain, but through some sheer force of will, determination, and a hungry stomach I lifted myself up and dragged out of the tent.

To my internal relief, I saw Mash busily talking with the hologram of Da Vinci about something, hopefully, that something would help me get rid of the pain. I walked there, forcefully stopping myself from adding a skip to my step as I really didn't want to deal with the painful consequences of that action. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Cu and Fou silently staring at each other by the campfire but decided to leave them alone for now. I'll have plenty of time to interact with either both during and after, we're done here.

"-plete and ready to be delivered!" Da Vinci's chipper voice brought nothing but hope, "Ah, Damien! Nice to see you're awake and still among the living! Does anything hurt in particular? Our sensors report that your pain receptors are going haywire but we can't get a good reading. Anyway, I have created a bracelet to suppress the poison circulating in your body, so you should feel better soon. The one that muscle head created earlier certainly proved useful, but it can't compare to anything I can whip up even without trying. Which I always do. Try that is. Because true geniuses do nothing hallway!"

I gulped. Normally, hearing her happy voice would only raise my mood, but this traitor decided to let some rather vital information slip which I certainly did not appreciate. I coughed awkwardly and tried my best to ignore the menacing stare I was receiving from Mash.

"Good to see you too, Da Vinci. It's nothing severe, I swear, just a bit of cramps here and there," I attempted to wave off both her and Mash's concerns, "So, when can I get that bracelet?"

"It's great to hear you're well! As for the bracelet," she glanced down and I saw her shoulders moving as if typing away at something, "There we go. It should be arriving any second now. Unfortunately, since you're in a Singularity, instant transportation is rather difficult to perform. Nothing I wouldn't be able to solve with some time, of course, but Chaldea is still in need of repairs. Nothing distracts a genius from a challenge better than an even bigger challenge, you have to understand."

She looked at me, unblinking.

"Well, you'd understand if you were a genius like me, that is."

I just can't stay angry at her. Or him. Whatever. I've been to Louvre once, but in this situation that didn't mean anything. The painting of Mona Lisa had absolutely nothing on the Da Vinci's Real Life version. Even through the hologram, I had a hard time trying not to stare into the sparkling sapphires that took the place of her eyes. Luck was on my side, however, and I used the sound of metal striking metal as a distraction.

On top of Mash's which acted as a beacon to Chaldea, a polished bracelet reflected the dancing flames into the cloudy sky. Though, to be honest, it looked more like a gauntlet than a bracelet. It was also gold. Carefully picking up the device that looked suspiciously like the Infinity Gauntlet, I looked back at Da Vinci with a clear question in my eyes.

"Go on, try it out!" She spoke as if she was about to traverse time and space, burst out of this hologram, and slam the gauntlet onto my hand herself, "Just put it on, I promise it won't be too painful!"

"Too painful," huh? I glanced back at the inconspicuous device. Now that I think about it, aren't almost all of Da Vinci's works stuffed with extra uses? Her personal gauntlet had a flamethrower, an _ice_-thrower, and could detach to be launched at the enemy like a rocked. Actually, did she even have a hand beneath that gauntlet?!

My own gauntlet now presented itself in a new light. I was about to ask what exactly it was meant to do when I realized something important.

"Senpai…"

How did it go again? "When there's something scary in front, put something even scarier in the back"? I honestly didn't want to call it that way, but one of the things I disliked the most was being nagged, so…

With a sigh, I put the golden accessory right over the bandages on my right hand and prepared for worse. I was not disappointed.

The spikes were back, this time with a side of salt. Almost literally too. I felt gauntlet tighten around my hand, and numerous tiny somethings tear through the cloth and into my flesh. With a muffled yell I clutched my offended hand and would've dropped on my knees if Mash's hadn't intercepted my fall. I leaned on her as much as I could without being too intrusive and tried to even out my breathing. Simply being stabbed would've been fine, but this was different. The spikes weren't just poking through my skin, they were _spreading_.

I felt my right arm go numb again, but, before I could loudly voice my complaints to Da Vinci, the feeling came back. The pain was slowly subsiding and, if I strained my eyes, I could see thin streaks of red running on the gauntlet's surface.

"W-what the hell happened?" I wheezed out, "Did you give me some sort of a futuristic bear trap with some magic sprinkled on it?"

"I believe the closest thing would be an IV," I could hear the smugness radiating from Da Vinci's voice, "But of course, an IV isn't as portable as my Blood Recycler, isn't as sturdy as my Blood Recycler, isn't as efficient as my Blood Recycler, isn't as shiny as my Blood Recycler, isn't-"

"That great and all, but could you please get to the point?"

"Yes-yes, I was just getting there," she paused for a second, "Where was I again? Oh yes! Isn't as capable of handling gorgon poison as my Blood Recycler, and isn't as equipped for storing said poison as my Blood Recycler, and, of course, it lacks a gun function that my Blood Recycler, guess what, does not lack! It's just perfect, isn't it?"

"Did you just say that it's also a gun?!" I looked at the gauntlet in both alarm and awe. A gun glove. I had a gun glove, hell yeah!

"Why of course!" Da Vinci huffed indignantly, "I could've installed a normal gun but I thought it wouldn't be as effective as shooting gorgon poison. You just need to clench your fist and a dose of the poison that my Blood Recycler extracts from your blood will be launched wherever you're pointing. Unfortunately, we lack a way to synthesize gorgon poison for now so that function is only temporary. Of course, I could deal with that problem too, but I believe I've already told you my stance on challenges."

That… was actually amazing. I mean, come on, shooting gorgon poison just by clenching my fist? That was just sick. I simply had to remember not to waste my shots since I had no idea how much poison I had in me and, therefore, the gauntlet. Or Blood Recycler, as Da Vinci called it.

"Alright, if that's all, then I wish you good luck! Feel free to call again if you need any help," Da Vinci waved at us and reached towards some button we couldn't see when she was stopped by Mash.

"Wait!" Da Vinci stilled, "But if the gauntlet activates whenever Senpai clenches his fist, won't that lead to some accidents? Like, hitting someone he doesn't want to, or even just wasting shots. Please tell me you have at least installed some safety mechanism!"

"Y-yeah, sure!" A tine bead of sweat formed near Da Vinci's brow, "There are _definitely_ safety mechanisms installed! It's not like a genius such as myself could run out of empty space!"

"You what? W-why would you do that?!"

"Why wouldn't you want a gorgon poison shooting gun?"

"That's insane!" A frown was firmly rooted on Mash's face as Da Vinci was desperately searching for any distraction, "You have to make a new one to-"

"No, she's got a point," I decided to intervene before it was too late. I lifted up Blood Recycler to an eye level, "This one has a gorgon poison shooting gun."

"B-but," Mash visibly deflated, "What if you accidentally hit yourself?"

"And _that_ would be a story for another time," Da Vinci interrupted with a relieved smile on her face, "Unfortunately something came up and I really need to go, so good luck, and bye!"

Her hand blurred and the hologram vanished a split second later. I was left with a still-fuming Mash and the Essence of Awesome that was resting on my right hand. Even better was the fact that the pain started to abide little by little. It was barely noticeable, but that mind-shattering buzz was getting quieter with every passing second. The Blood Recycler was already working its magic, it seemed.

I turned to Mash and gave it my best shot to smile, "I'm already feeling better! Let's go fetch Cu and head out."

"Senpai, you should've told me you were in pain," she shook her head, "I'm sure Dr. Roman would've had something to ease it."

"Come on, it wasn't that big of a deal…"

"But it is, Senpai. As your Servant, my ability to protect you depends on your willingness to be protected. And as a member of Chaldea, the survival of the entirety of Humanity depends on your ability to be protected," he paused for a second before taking a deep breath, "I know you have a lot on your shoulders, Senpai, but please don't be selfish. You are not alone."

With that, she went silent and simply looked at me. For my part, I was in too much turmoil to properly react. I wasn't being selfish, was I? I was looking out for them, so they wouldn't worry too much! Except I was not. Did I really care about their well-being? Or did I just want to look "cool?"

"Yeah," I slowly inclined my head down, "You're right. I'll make sure to take better care of myself from now on."

"See that you do, Senpai, "she smiled radiantly, "You are Humanity's last hope."

I nodded absentmindedly and raised my eyes to the sky. It was roiling with pitch black clouds, as usual, lighted up by the fires burning beneath them. Somewhere out there, through space and time, people were depending on me. I was their "Last Hope." Did I finally find my purpose? I wasn't sure.

But I was sure I didn't want to disappoint.

Turning on the balls of my feet, I marched towards my Servants and caught their attention with a loud clap. Ignoring the dull pain that sprung up in my left hand, I grinned at them.

"The time for dilly-dallying has passed. We have to move out now."

Cu grinned back and dramatically rose from the ground, stretching his arms with muffled pops. In a twitch of his fingers, Gae Bolg sped from somewhere near and flew right into his grasp.

"Finally," he hefted the spear onto his shoulders, "I almost got bored enough to go on my own back there."

"Servant Shielder ready for action, Master!" Mash stood right beside him in full combat attire, her shield at the ready, "We can head out when you say so."

"Then we depart right now."

The camping equipment was swiftly shipped to Chaldea and we departed for the mountain looming in the distance.

The trip itself was rather uneventful. Cu tore through the groups of undead, Mash deflected the attacks of whoever was privileged enough to have bows and arrows, and just sat back and enjoyed my Servants work. That is not to say I was relaxing, after what happened the last time I tried I was wary of lowering in a combat situation. So I just stuck to Mash's side shooting glances left and right every few seconds.

It even paid off once when I noticed a skeleton archer who was aiming to take my head off in one fell swoop from the roof of a nearby building. I ducked to get out of the way, which drew Mash's attention. One word to Cu and the building was no more.

The pockets of the Chaldea Master uniform I was wearing started to swell with crimson bones since after each battle I took my time collecting the ascension materials from the corpses of the, well, corpses. Even looking at the bones was slightly unsettling, especially with the only source of light being the cursed fire. The fact that they looked like crystallized blood only served to make them creepier.

Mash and Cu didn't question my actions, only raising an eyebrow the first time. They dutifully stood guard while I was busy, and Fou even helped by rolling bones in my direction. The critter was both cute _and_ useful it seemed. Well, Fou would be extremely useful when we'll get to the finish line, but I didn't want to think about that right now. Tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow's me.

Somewhere midway the rain started to pour from the boiling skies. Unsurprisingly, the fires all around us weren't affected, but it did create a fascinating scene. The clear droplets reflected the flames within themselves, and to me, it looked like the sky was crying embers.

I raised my hand palm up and watched as the water splash against the golden surface of my Blood Recycler.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Your words, not mine, Master," Cu shrugged, "Can't say I've had many run-ins with fire that ended well."

"That's rich, coming from the Child of Light," I smirked at him.

"What happened to subtlety, eh?" He deflected.

Mash just silently shook her head and traded glances with Fou.

"The mountain is almost within reach. Should we continue or do you need to take a rest, Senpai?"

I took my time to come up with an answer. Moving was still somewhat painful and, coupled with the exhaustion from all the fighting, I wasn't in my best shape. On the other hand, however, taking a break so close to our destination stung both at my pride and survival instinct. In the end, I decided that it the Final Boss should always be faced at full force so resting was a must.

"We'll take a break," I announced, "Just a quick rest before the final push. No need to summon any supplies, Mash, it'll be half an hour at most."

Cu and Mash nodded, though the former looked a bit downcast. Mash, on the other hand, smiled knowingly.

We occupied one of the few nearby buildings that were still intact and I couldn't help but release a sigh once I allowed myself to drop onto some scorched couch. It was even warm because of all the fire burning around. After some consideration, I angled my body and sprawled all over the couch, stretching as I did so. I could finally just take a rest and do nothing.

Cu took a seat near one of the windows which he proceeded to stare into, while Mash dragged a chair close to the couch I was in and sat there. We descended into a comfortable silence and I let my eyelids droop a bit.

The next time I opened them was due to a thunderous crash and just in time to see a chunk of rock falling straight on my face. I rolled to the side only to realize that I rolled in the wrong direction and was now pressing myself against the back of the couch.

Just as mind finally cleared out and I prepared to push myself out of the way before I got flattened, my guardian angel came to save me. A blur of black and purple and the rock was sent flying somewhere to the side. A second later Mash's worried expression hovered over me for a brief moment before vanishing again.

I sprang onto my feet briefly wincing from the pain and immediately crouched just in case. The house was in even more ruins than it was before. Mash stood by the window Cu was occupying earlier and used her shield to completely block the opening. Cu appeared by my side and dragged me up by the hem of my uniform.

"Straighten up, kid, we've got a visitor!" His grin flickered into a frown when he looked at the covered window, "Unfortunately, he's a bit of a coward. Good job waking up, by the way. You've got good instincts."

He clapped me on the shoulder and turned to face the closed door. His armored boots clanked as he made his way outside, and the ambient bloodlust in the air started to rise.

"Take care of Master, girl," with a roll of his shoulders, Cu was gone and so was the door.

Not deeming him with a verbal response, Mash jumped back and landed right next to me, her shield covering us both. From the outside sounds of a fierce battle reached my ears, what with all the debris and explosions visible through the open doorway. It was hard to see from behind the wall of magical steel though, so I decided to peek my head out. That was a mistake.

Something ripped the air right beside me, ruffling my hair the process. I was yanked back as if I was lighter than a feather and came face to face with half-worried half-angry Mash.

"Senpai, we're under attack! Why did you show yourself to the enemy?!"

"Point."

Dazed, I brushed my hand against my hair and found it lacking. The hair, that is. A good chunk of black strands was lying on the floor, shaved off by a flying greatsword that was currently resting across the street that was seen through a blown open wall.

I gulped and turned to look back at Mash.

"Lesson learned."

_"Cu, what's our situation?"_

_"Some prick in red decided to crash the party,"_ Came a delayed response from Cu, _"The bastard's flinging around swords like pebbles. Good thing I have Protection from Arrows, there's no count to how many times the thing saved me in life."  
_

EMIYA then. Cu should be able to handle him unless the Reality Marble is deployed. Time to bring out the big guns.

"Lancer, I authorize the use of your Noble Phantasm. Deal with the intruder as soon as possible."

"Aye aye, Master," I could hear his grin through our connection, "Here comes the finisher!"

Silence reigned for a few seconds before an ear-piercing screech resonated from outside. The small part of the battlefield that was visible to me took a rainbow hue. A beautiful aurora of swirling colors shined through and covered the walls. Mash immediately tensed, but I slightly smirked instead. Unfortunately for EMIYA, Rho Aias was ineffective against the Anti-Unit version of-

"**GAE BOLG!**"

Well, that. There was no grand finisher, no explosion to awe an observer. There was a roar full of ferocious glee and silence a moment later. The aurora started to fade and the crackling of nearby flames returned to dominate the atmosphere.

I gave a nod to Mash and headed outside. The sound of footsteps following me could be heard in less than a second. We left the building to see Cu staring at empty space with a thoughtful expression on his face and Gae Bolg on his shoulder. Judging from the disappearing particles that were flying away from the spear, EMIYA was dealt with.

I sighed and approached Cu, my footsteps echoing across the street.

"You hurt?"

"Nah, just a few scratches," Cu scratched his head as if to back up his words, "The guy was tough and would've turned me into a porcupine if he had the chance. Too bad he picked the wrong opponent."

Now it was my time to clap him on the shoulder. He turned to me with an arched brow, but I just pointed at the mountain with my thumb. Cu shook his head with a smile, and we continued on our way.

The battle was a bit anticlimactic and, honestly, I was disappointed I couldn't witness it myself. On the other hand, I could clearly feel the breeze with my scalp and see the ruined housed that took a speeding greatsword to a metaphorical face. In a battle of Legends, there was no place for a mere man. Hopefully, I could change it with time, using a few… alteration we could concoct. I glanced down at my right hand. Yeah, that was a good start. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

The mountain was getting closer and closer with every passing hour, and I started to get tired once again. I wasn't the weakest guy around (metaphorically) but I didn't spend nearly enough time in the gym to be fine with constant walking for hours on end. Especially considering that the skeletons didn't go anywhere and were dutifully filling my pockets with cursed bones. I likely looked ridiculous by now, half-shaved, covered in bandages, with pockets swelling to the point of bursting, and a massive golden gauntlet on my hand.

The thought made me stop and look around for any sort of mirror. Seeing a car nearby, I notified my Servants and headed towards it. Looming over a broken window, I peered into my reflection. I looked _different_ from what I remembered. Suppressing the budding anxiety, I carefully studied the features of my face. Then I realized that my face hadn't actually changed.

There were massive bags under my eyes, probably from the ruined sleep cycle. The dark brown irises were surrounded by a maze of bloodshot veins, meshing well with the fiery environment. I moved my gaze to my hair and winced at the forced haircut. I used to have medium length hair before, but now one side of my head sported an extremely short trim. The cut was extremely smooth as if the hairs didn't even bend when faced with the blade's edge. The sharpness of that sword was on par with its speed, as was proper for a Servant.

I looked down and realized that I completely forgot to take off the collar that Cu had made for me. Shrugging my shoulders, I left it there, for now, the thing wasn't harmful in any way and I wanted to go over Runes with Cu at some point anyway. It would serve well as a training prop.

I put my hands on the side of the car and lightly lifted myself up so I could see more of my torso. Below the Chaldean uniform that was now more grey than white were layers upon layers of bandages. Fortunately, no bones were broken so they hid only bruises.

A blur of movement followed a 'pang!' caught my attention and I turned my head to look at the disturbance. Mash stood right beside with her shield at the ready and an arrow by her feet. The skeleton archer had less than a second to access the situation before its skull was pulverized by a stray Gae Bolg.

I smiled and nodded at my Servants, receiving a smirk and a shake of a head in return. I put myself back on the ground and straightened up. All in all, I looked like Thanos who got caught by Egyptians and mummified. And shorter, obviously. And not bald. Yeah, that was a bad example, but I just couldn't get the similarity between the Blood Recycler and the Infinity Gauntlet out of my head.

I even had my own "Sons of Thanos," for Hell's sake! Having someone masterfully defend me from harm without any sign from me has always been one of my dreams! I mean, I didn't even have to do anything, they just took care of the threat themselves! Life was good.

We continued to trod towards the mountain and all the way I just couldn't keep a smile off my face. Definitely worth the uncertain and questioning glances.

Finally, we stopped right in front of the massive cave entrance. I've been to some caves before during school excursions, but those stone shelters had nothing on this Evil Lair of Evilness. The gaping maw was pitch black and the weak wind that came out of it carried a smell of rot with it. Or perhaps something I identified as rot. The smell made my full of… energy, for lack of better word. In permeated the surrounding air and made thick, suffocating even.

I took a deep breath, filling my breath with the ominous air, and leaned stepped forward. Before I could, however, Mash's shield made a whirring sound, and a hologram popped up right beside us.

"Demyan, Mash! Be careful, the source of the Singularity is extremely close to you," Romani had visible bags under his eyes which stood in complete opposition to the vigor filling his voice, "We have also detected a strong Servant signature, so be careful!"

"Hello to you, Doctor," Mash politely bowed her head, "With your confirmation, it's certain – we have discovered the source of this Singularity."

She angled her shield so the hologram could face the cave entrance. Romani froze. Then he disappeared, though the connection was still on. We heard shouts and muffled commands coming from the other side before Roman appeared once again, his jaw set in stone and determination in his eyes.

"Give us a few minutes, the team will analyze the available data and compile a plan. Please don't do anything rash."

The connection cut off and we were left in awkward silence. This Romani was different from the one in the game after all. Despite the lax attitude, this man has truly spent most of his life preparing for the Apocalypse. Two minutes in, the shield pinged again.

"Done. We are receiving a lone Servant signature from the side, motionless. Chances are, they are waiting for you. Estimated strength B or A rank, relatively speaking. Just think of them as a top tier opponent and you'll be close to the truth. The fact that they're alone is both concerning and fortunate since you have a number advantage. Unfortunately, this also means that they might have some other form of advantage, so look out for that. Our suggested tactic is to send your summoned Servant to battle while being under Mash's protection. I know it's not much, but, with most of Chaldea severely damaged, this is the most we can give you.

I seriously nodded at the Good Doctor. Even if I already knew all that, a confirmation was nice. Besides, they clearly did their best to help us which was greatly appreciated.

"Wish us luck, Doctor. See you on the other side."

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Roman," Mash bowed again, "We will meet again soon."

The quite "I hope" went unnoticed by Romani, or at least he made it look so. Cu just nodded at the hologram.

"That we will, Mash. Good luck, everyone."

With that, we were left alone once more. I repeated my actions and took a deep breath before leaning forward to make a step. This time, I was not interrupted. We headed into the gaping abyss surrounded by the echo of our footsteps. Cu's metal clanking one was a bit annoying, to be honest.

Regardless, we made it to the Final Boss and were now faced with an absolutely ginormous dome of stone and crimson light. The blinding rays of purplish red were extremely similar to all those depictions of warp from Warhammer 40k, what's with the pinkish tint and all.

More importantly, however, a lone figure greeted us at the bottom of the hill that reached out to stars visible up high. As we neared, the features become more and more prominent and, finally, I was able to see the mascot of this entire franchise for the first time. She was beautiful.

Pale blond hair, clear skin without as much as a single impurity, cold eyes of still gold, all were set in a perfect mask of sneering serenity. I couldn't shake off the feeling that the moment I laid foot in this cave, I was judged and found wanting.

Not a single muscle in her body twitched at our approach. Her eyes were directed straight forward, and yet I was sure that our every action was being analyzed and recorded.

"Welcome." Her voice thundered across the cavern, "You are the visitors from Chaldea, I presume?"

Even her tone was perfectly level. She talked like a machine, every letter defined and every word clear.

She was waiting for an answer, but I could provide none. She was too… scary, honestly. Despite the petite figure, her presence was _felt_ on some primal level, unlike the simple fear for my life when we were faced with Medusa. Arturia's presence commanded, her blackened armor dominated, and the pulsating crimson lines that ran across her tainted sword promised nothing but agonized death.

My breathing was ragged and my tongue refused to move. This was a Servant. A Heroic Spirit. Cu was one too, but his carefree disposition made him much more approachable. I couldn't back down, however. Not this time.

So what if she was a living Legend?

So what if I was facing the dark side of King Arthur himself?

There were people who depended me.

There were people who needed me.

But importantly…

I clenched my teeth and turned around to look at Mash and Cu Chulainn. Cu's stance seemed relaxed, but I could the tense muscles filled with contained energy, ready to move at superhuman speeds at any second. Mash, on the other hand, was nervous. Her shield was shaking, clutched in unsteady arms, and I could see a trail of sweat roll down her brow. And yet, she stood tall.

I turned back and looked Arturia right in the eyes, ignoring the shiver that traveled up my spine.

"We are," the words came out rugged, felt unfinished, "And might you be, worthy adversary?"

"You are too young to judge my worth, Last Master of Chaldea." Her response was swift and brutal, "Too weak. But. I commend you for standing tall in the face of a superior foe."

She pulled the tip of Excalibur Morgan out of the barren ground and lifted the cursed sword above her head.

"The time to test your Spirit has passed. Now is the time to test your mettle."

The rays of crimson light around the cavern were snuffed out by the erupted pillar of malignant energies. The darkest shade of black I've ever seen surrounded by a halo of blood red and vibrant violet twisting as churning around each other filled the entirety of the dome. From the initial activation alone the dust was blown away by a gust of violent wind, and it took Mash rushing to the front to not be blown away by it.

Suddenly, simply hitting her with Gae Bolgs didn't seem like a very good idea. Cu's widening grin, however, told me otherwise.

"That's some serious power, Master, you better watch out!" He screamed over the roar of corrupted magic, "If that thing hits, a collar won't be enough, you'd need a full-blown tombstone!"

Of course, he wasn't suicidal, so as the sword went down and the wave of darkness rushed towards us, he did the smart thing and hid behind Mash's shield. As for me, seeing the incoming doom wave, I decided that personal space could be ignored for once and leaned into Mash as much as possible, both to support her with my weight and get more coverage from the shield.

The moment we were hit was undeniable. My vision went black. The sounds were erased. Everything became just an ever-stretching void of darkness. But I still felt something in my grip.

The sensation caused my eyes to bust wide open. Existence wasn't erased, I just shut my eyes! My fingers were going white from how hard I squeezed Mash's shoulder, and we were still surrounded by a tide of pitch black energy, but her shield stood strong!

I braced myself and glanced behind to see how Cu was doing, only for him to shoot me a thumbs up. I ignored it, now wasn't the time for riddles. Finally, the assault ceased. We were once again surrounded by stone, though this time it was scorched black. Mash was visibly shaking and her breathing was uneven. The chances of withstanding another attack like this were slim. The one after that would simply leave us dead.

Surprisingly, this time I wasn't as scared of the possibility of dying. When we fought Medusa I was terrified. When EMIYA took us by surprise I was shocked. Now? Now I was annoyed.

"Cu, get her!"

My shout rang free in the silent air. At first, nothing happened. But then…

"Now we're talking!" The earth behind me shattered and whatever hair I had left went wild in the wake of the Child of Light.

"This!" A forward thrust with Gae Bolg was deflected effortlessly, "Is!" A swing with the butt of the spear was dodged, "Life!" A vertical chop was blocked by the black steel.

"You know, your face really pisses me off, lady," Cu Chulainn growled in Arturia's face, "You talk of tests and mettle, but how can you judge a warrior if you can't even enjoy a fight, huh?!"

"Smile, dammit! Laugh! Let blood sing within your veins and rejoice when it gushes out!" He dropped to the ground to avoid a horizontal swing, "That stone cold face of yours belongs on a statue, not someone wielding a sword!"

Cu Chulainn shot forward from his crouch, trying to knock Arturia off balance. He was met with a pommel to the face. Using the kinetic energy, he jumped back to regain some space, but Arturia was hot on his trail. He barely had the time to twist in midair and put Gae Bolg in Excalibur's way instead of his own shoulder.

For the first time, Arturia's toe changed. With a mighty roar to make the Dragons proud, her blade was enveloped in darkness once more and Cu Chulainn was sent flying into the wall, where he vanished in the cloud of roused dust.

Releasing a breath and straightening her posture, Arturia turned her head to look straight at us. I took a step back, before snapping out of a daze and returning to Mash's side. If there has ever been a time to stay close, it was now.

The armored boots struck the ground. Step.

"S-Senpai…"

Step.

"Mash, stay strong. We can do this. Lancer isn't dead, we just have to hold before he recovers."

Step.

"Al-alright. Senpai. Just in case this is the last time I see you…" She inclined her head to look me in the eyes, "I have enjoyed the time we have spent together."

Step.

"Yeah, me too. Me too."

Step.

"If you two are quite done, I would like to return to my duty of guarding the Holy Grail."

Saber Alter was close, way too close. If Excalibur Morgan's blast becomes stronger the closer the target is, we are screwed.

Which is why…

_"Cu, are you functional?"_

_"Ugh, my spine… It's like balance training all over again. Stupid rocks…"_

_"We are in a bit of a situation, Cu. I need you to stab her with Gae Bolg. Preferably several times. Can you do that?"_

_"Fine, just… give me a second."_

The cavern was once again lit with black light. Absentmindedly, I noted that my hand covered the one Mash was using to hold the shield, in a perfect replica from the anime. Stupid body…

_"There, I'm done. Now, back to the fun part!"_

As darkness bloated by vision again, I felt a hand circle around my shoulders. Confused, I looked down only to find Mash… blushing. Well, this is awkward. I felt my cheeks heat up too, despite my best efforts. With a sigh, I put my armored hand around her, careful not to poke at the churning darkness. This was kind of nice, actually, not going to lie. The smooth surface of the armor (I wasn't degenerate enough to touch skin) provided a calming effect on my damaged nerves.

We looked at each other before a determined expression appeared on Mash's face.

"I don't know what kind of Servant gave his power… But I do know that it is supposed to protect," she gritted her teeth together, "And if I can use it to protect you, to protect the memories of this adventure…"

Carried away by her speech, I failed to notice right away that we were being pushed back, digging small trenches in the ground. Fortunately, it didn't last for very long.

"Then I will do just that!"

As if responding to her scream, the shield started to emit blinding light. In complete contrast to the surrounding darkness, in an almost poetic manner, the light cleansed the dark. The void itself was pushed away and replaced by will, by pure determination and desire for a better future. I could only watch in speechless awe as, with a final push, a giant blazing seal bloomed in front of us, arcane sigils swirling around each other in a seemingly chaotic, yet orderly, manner. It tore the beam of energy in two and completely dissipated the remains.

"Ironic."

A voice pierced the reverent silence. Arturia was standing with the sword lax in her grip, looking at Mash with a strange expression. It took several seconds to comprehend that I was witnessing her mask giving a crack. Arturia was in turmoil. Unfortunately, Mash chose this very second to lose strength and fall on her knees. This time, however, it was my job to catch her and let her lean on me. More importantly, this was an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up. Not with the adrenalin pumping through my veins that forced my body to do it for me.

"Cu, _**Stab**_!"

"**Gae Bolg.**"

Space glitched for a second, forcing me to blink. When I opened my eyes, Arturia hadn't moved an inch, but now Cu was standing right behind her, with Gae Bolg bursting through her armor and poking out right where her heart should be. Only the sounds of droplets of blood hitting the stone floor could be heard. Slowly, Arturia looked down and stared at the spearhead exiting her chest. She looked pensive.

"Even more ironic." Was the only thing she managed to breathe out before her body started to break down into golden particles.

Seconds later, we were alone in the cavern. I forced my jaw to snap shut in order to cut out a scream. I wanted nothing more than to simply scream in the air, without purpose, without a goal. I was alive.

I was alive!

ALIVE, goddammit!

I let out a breath and let myself sprawl on the ground. The ambient pain left in my body was simply not a factor at this point. I looked up at the cloudy sky and… watched it shatter?

Oh.

Oh no.

I jumped back up at the same time as Mash's shield came to life. Romani's panicking voice reached my ears not a second too late.

"The Singularity is collapsing!" His hair looked as wild as his eyes were bloodshot, "The Servant signature is gone and the Singularity is tumbling down, you need to be evacuated immediately! We are preparing an emergency Rayshift, but we have no idea how long it will take since you didn't use the Coffins! You just have to hang in there-"

"Now now, Romani, calm down. There is absolutely nothing to worry about." A deep voice filled to the brim with arrogance interrupted the Good Doctor.

"L-Lev?"

"Professor Lev?!"

"Huh?"

The responses were almost perfectly synchronized. For my part, I just looked up and lo and behold, Lev Lainur himself was smiling down upon from the top of the hill. His extravagant green suit lacked even a single speck of dust, his wig was as curly as ever, and in his hands, a Holy Grail was being idly twirled. Judging by how his smile widened, he noticed me staring at the Holy Relic.

"Oh, this toy?" He raised the golden cup, "You can have it. Here, catch."

He lightly tossed the Grail and I managed to catch it even without moving from where I stood. He perfectly aimed his throw to land right on my chest. I looked back up at him from where my fingers clutched the Grail, and he just sent me a fatherly smile in response.

"No need to be so surprised, I had time to practice. Anyway, how are you all doing? Terribly, I hope, but that's just me, I guess." He chuckled under the still-shocked stares from both Mash and Romani, "Oh don't be like that, you know you love me. Well, for now anyway. Let's see if we can change that, shall we?"

Lev threw his arms to the sides as his usually narrowed eyes shot open, "Master of Chaldea! I, Lev Lainur, congratulate you on completing your first Singularity! Let's hear some applause for the boy, no. For the _man_!"

He started to clap. It wasn' the slow and sarcastic clap he used in the anime or in the game, no, he was genuinely applauding us. It was… eerie. It didn't feel evil in any way, just simply wrong.

"Now, of course, this isn't the last one, so you're still quite far from the finish line. But fear not, for I am here to explain the rules of this little game of ours." His final clap brought his hands together in the 'praying' position, "Rule Number One: There are no rules. You may do as you please, even though your only option is to lose. Rule Number Two! You must go through the Singularities in a strict order of increasing difficulty. No one wants to get stuck on the first level, right? Rule Number Three, the final Rule! If you die, you lose. If Humanity is no more, you lose, if Chaldea is destroyed… You guessed it, you lose!"

This was not the Lev I remembered. Something was different. I did _not_ like it.

"Of course, Rule One still applies, so you can just ignore the other Rules… If you want your adventure to be short and boring, that is!"

The sky shattered like glass. The earth split apart like a struck mirror. Reality itself began to twist and churn around us, all accompanied by the sound of Lev's laugh.

"What's going on, Lev?!" Romani finally managed to speak through his shock, "What are you doing?!"

"Why, isn't it obvious, Romani?" Lev smiled, "I'm being the Bad Guy."

The walls started to shake as the mountain around us began to fall apart.

"Senpai!" I was tackled by Mash who immediately dropped on her knees and dragged me down with her, Cu right next to us. The tower shield rose up like an impenetrable barrier to block all the falling debris.

My vision went haywire, dimensions distorting and blurring, as blue light started to creep from the corners of my eyes. I saw Mash and Cu being consumed by the same blue light.

Just before my world went black, however…

A voice filled with _glee_.

"Merry Christmas, Damien."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Waking up was… uncomfortable. I groggily blinked the sleep away from my eyes and blankly stared at the pure white ceiling of the room. Yes, a room. I didn't even need to look around to identify "Your Room," because of its sheer mundanity. White walls, white ceiling, white bed, and white bed covers. White curtains and beyond the, you guessed it, a fierce blizzard of white snow. This place looked like a hospital.

I tried getting up, but something prevented me from lifting my body. I looked to the right side of the bed and clicked my tongue. Turns out I've hooked to a couple wires. Tubes. Whatever these things were. An IV (a normal one, not my Blood Recycler) was standing beside my bed, connected to several monitors that were currently showing what I assumed to be my heart rate.

From the hanging bags with various colorful solutions in them, thin tubes stretched through the air and ended their ways in half a dozen different places on my body. My legs, my hips, my stomach, my torso, my arms, even one on my neck! I couldn't feel the needles without touching them to make sure, so I decided to just assume that I had several pointy objectless stuck in my frail human flesh. Speaking of frail flesh, I was still bandaged for some reason. Were the bruises that tough of an opponent for a genius like Leonardo Da Vinci? Doubtful.

Seeing how my condition was probably monitored, I settled on just doing nothing. I dropped down on the bed and continued staring at the ceiling, hoping that someone would come soon to brief me on the current situation. Meanwhile, rather worrying thoughts began to plague my mind.

We didn't encounter Caster Cu, and Lev's personality turned out to be completely different from what it was in-game. All these things implied deviations from canon, especially the latter. With Humanity's existence on the line, any disadvantage we had could turn out to be lethal. Even more chilling were the-

I winced at the sudden burst of a headache. I wasn't out of the danger zone yet, it seemed… What was I thinking about again? Oh, right. In order to get back the advantage of foreknowledge, I had to follow canon word for word. This meant I had to find time to record everything I could remember from the game, so I wouldn't forget the vital information.

Alternatively… Lev _did_ say it was like a game, which it kind of was. And Rule One looked really enticing right now. Just do whatever I want. Enjoy myself. Have fun. Wasn't that exactly what I wanted?

Yeah. It was.

I purged the worries from my mind and nuzzled deeper into the soft pillow. If we die, we lose. But I would hardly care at that point, now would I? One can't just think of losing all the point, it's unhealthy. You have to focus on the 'winning' part.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, trying to bore myself to sleep. My attempt at meditation, however, was interrupted by a door busting open and several figures rushing into the room.

The first to catch my eye was a mop of pink hair which was undoubtedly Mash, who dashed at my bedside and reached to grab my hand only to freeze at the last moment, as if in fear.

"Senpai, are you alright?!"

"He should be fine, no need to worry!" Da Vinci came in second and approached me with a smile, "Well, Mr. Hero, how are you feeling?"

"Da Vinci…" A sigh came from the last to arrive, Romani shaking his head in disappointment, "Too soon. He has just started to recover, give him time."

At my questioning look, Da Vinci only smiled even wider, but Roman lowered his eyes and scratched at the back of his head? Did something bad happen to me _again_?

"Remember the beam of energy that the Knight Servant launched at you?" I warily nodded at his question. Pretty sure we were not hit though, were we? "Well you see, simply hiding behind a shield didn't exactly prevent the ambient mana particles in the air from affecting you, so… At least you weren't vaporized?"

"What happened, Romani?" So, the swordbeam actually hit me, in some way. Fantastic.

Not.

"Ehm, I believe the closest thing to compare the damage to would be electricity." What? "Not something extremely high voltage like lightning, no. More like… A Tesla Coil, maybe? Essentially, the mana seemed into your body and damaged your nervous system, as well as a couple of outer layers of flesh. You couldn't feel it because, well, you lacked the proper parts to… feel, as Da Vinci here so helpfully pointed out."

Great. Just wonderful. Now I'm poisoned, bruised, shaved, _and_ mana-shocked. What next, amputation? I sincerely hoped the way I looked at him told Romani everything about the degree of me being done with that nonsense.

"We managed to patch you up though!" Came a weak rebuke, "You looked much worse when you got first Rayshifted here."

"It was like someone decided to cremate a mummy, but quit halfway through the process." Da Vinci chimed in with an of so helpful bit of trivia.

"Fou! Fou, fou. Fooooou."

"Thanks, Fou, I knew I could count on you to have my back." The beastie was the only one here who cared, it seemed.

"Uhm, Senpai?" Oh right, Mash was here too. Two people cared, then. Actually, was Fou 'people'? Two _persons_ cared for me. Yeah, that's better.

"I think he's concussed."

"But I made sure that no debris could touch him! And Lancer was there too!"

"I think it's Romani's fault. Damien here got all dreamy only after the Doctor here rattled off his condition."

"H-hey now, Da Vinci, no need for that! I checked everything several times over. Look, even the monitors show that he's not concussed!"

"Guys?" The room went silent, "I'm not concussed but I do have a bit of a headache. Could you just brief me on our situation?"

"Yes, you are right," Romani coughed into his gloved fist and straightened his posture, "Damien, Master of Chaldea. Allow me, as the Acting Director of Chaldea, to congratulate you on eliminating the Fuyuki Singularity. You did a service to all of Humanity, even if most can't express their gratitude."

He paused for a second, then continued.

"While you were recovering, CHALDEAS was tweaked to adjust to the current situation. With it, we have learned some extremely valuable information, vital to our mission. First things first, Chaldea now officially holds the last remnants of Humanity. Reality outside the Observatory is shattered, eaten, and then spit back out. In other words, the rest of the world is gone. That blizzard you see blowing outside will be our permanent weather forecast until we restore Humanity."

That sounded worse in real life than it did in the game. I angled my head to look out of the window again. So that was in, huh? Beyond the raging snowstorm, there was void. No cities, no forests. No lakes and no rivers. No mountains, no plains, no hills. No life. It was a bit depressing, really. I turned back to face Romani, which he took as a cue to carry on with the briefing.

"Through CHALDEAS, we have learned that the reason for, well, apocalypse lies in the past. We activated SHEBA and, with some time and effort, managed to locate seven points in history that we were unable to observe. The hypothesis is that these points are the keys to the event we decided to call the Incineration of Human Order. A bit over the top, I know, but it sounds fitting. Anyway, we are still calculating the exact timeframe of these Singularities, so we can't Rayshift you there yet. But that's fine because you are in need of time to recover. The whole operation, you know clearing out the seven Singularities and saving humanity, we decided to call the Grand Order. Sounds important, don't you think?" He ended his speech that told me exactly nothing new and continued after a slight pause, "What else… Oh! The other Master Candidates are currently in a coma, so you are our species' only hope."

He lifted his hand and bent a pinky.

"We were unable to locate the Director, so, as I said, I will be acting as both head of the Medical Staff and Director," Ring finger, "Most of Chaldea is still nonresponsive, but Da Vinci succeeded in repairing the generators, so FATE can now be used to summon more Servant," Middle finger, "The Servant you've summoned already, Cu Chulainn I think, is doing fine. I believe he's currently in the cafeteria, enjoying the modern cuisine," Index finger, "Ah yes! Da Vinci managed to harvest, for lack of better word, the collapsing Singularity that you've escaped from, and the result were these."

He reopened his hand and started to rummage through his pockets. A few minutes of awkward silence and quite cursing later, "Aha! Here it is."

It was a Saint Quartz. On the white glove, shining with all imaginable colors, was a beautiful crystal. Star-shaped in form, it looked like someone plucked a, well, star from the night sky and brought down to earth. It was mesmerizing. However…

"It's beautiful, no doubt about that… But what could we use it for?" Please don't be what I think it's for.

"We're not sure, actually. This little gem is some weird mix of mana and space-stuff. Time-stuff? We have no idea what this thing is, really. But the team decided to call it Saint Quartz because of the appearance, and the current idea is to use them as catalysts for the FATE system. No need to waste the facility's energy when we can use these! So feel free to summon your new Servant whenever you're ready."

No. Oh god, please no. This was gacha. We actually had gacha here.

"Leave me."

"S-Senpai?"

"Leave for now, please. I… I need to think about all of this."

"Foooou."

"Oh. Well, I hope to see you later, Senpai! I'll tell Lancer that you're feeling better."

"Yeah, you do that." I turned my head to face the wall.

Backhandedly responding to their farewells, I pondered on the state of things. I was damaged, badly. But I was getting better. I could summon more Servants, fantastic. But gacha was a thing. I simply wasn't sure what to do at this point. Was I overreacting? Maybe. But my thoughts were a jumbled mess and I had no idea what to think at the moment. Sleep seemed to be the best option so far. Yeah, sleep was great. Tomorrow's troubles for tomorrow's me.

They didn't turn off the light. I turned back and stared at the offending switch. It was close, annoyingly so. I carefully reached out with my hand, trying to avoid disrupting all the wires attached to it. The switch taunted my inability to flick it. Bracing, I shifted my body to give the arm some extra length. Moments before I could touch it, the switch _moved_ away from my hand. I froze. Was I on drugs? These tubes suddenly didn't look nearly as helpful as they were before.

Forgetting the switch for now, I shakily tapped one of the bandages that hid the needle. At least I thought they had needles. No discomfort. Unlike back when I just got poisoned, my body didn't feel like the numbness was forced. I simply didn't feel any discomfort. I tapped harder. Still nothing.

I had to carefully appraise this. On one hand, the presence of light took my ability to sleep. I _really_ wanted to sleep right now. On the other hand, turning the light of required me to stand up. Which meant unplugging the tubes and whatever they were delivering into my bloodstream.

Speaking of blood, I couldn't help but notice that my golden gauntlet was gone. I sighed internally, such an opportunity wasted. How else would I be able to throw gorgon poison at people?!

Alright, serious mode. The lack of Blood Recycler meant of two things. Either I was free of poison, or thing IV-looking things kept the poison at bay. If it was the latter, I really didn't want to unplug myself from it. The worst thing was, I couldn't even simply move the device, because it was attached to much heavier machinery. Despite the wheels, a small tug on the object in question proved that Da Vinci was capable of forgetting about her Servant strength. In other words, I was physically incapable of moving the damn thing.

I dropped back on the bed with a huff and tried to drill a hole in the ceiling with my stare. The bloody light made it impossible to sleep. I was injured, I was tired, I was stressed goddammit! And this light took away the one thing that could help!

I felt my frustrations start to boil inside me. The fear of death. The anxiety of knowing that every alley could hold an archer that was capable of ending you. So, fear of death again. Terror when faced with a garden of people forever frozen in stone. Awed trepidation from the mere presence of the Tainted King of Briton.

I wanted to lash out at something, anything. Claw at the beeping screens, tear at the blasted wires, scream at the godforsaken light switch. Fortunately, my anger management was top notch. A deep breath later, all my worries, fears, and stress were gathered and locked up within the darkest corners of my mind. There was no need to rage at the world around me. A momentary satisfaction of following my impulses was not worth the damaged caused by following said impulses.

Cost versus Benefit.

Now perfectly calm, I was once more able to properly analyze the situation.

I want that light off _right now_.

Twisting my body once again, I reached for the switched. Once again, I was a few centimeters short of my target. This time, however, a clear mind helped me remember an important tidbit. My nerves were fried. No pain. No discomfort. So, I could reach for the switch all while ignoring such distractions as sprained muscles. It was perfect!

I pushed my body forward until the tips of my fingers finally touched the light switch. A single flick later, I dropped back into bed surrounded by the blissful darkness.

Unfortunately, the monitors were not only emitting light, but also sound, I realized. With a tortured sigh, I closed my eyes and tried to let the measured beeps lull me to sleep.

I failed, miserably. I had no idea how much time has passed, but I couldn't get even a single second of sleep. Each time I tried to relax my mind went into overdrive, replaying the events from my first deployment. The heat of the burning city. The picture of the sword that almost succeeded in taking my head clean off my shoulders. The roar of the wind as a tide of darkness and blood descended upon a lone shield. Over and over. Over and over.

Over.

And over.

My body pushed itself up without my consent, a scream tearing at my throat. I was breathing heavily, sweat covered my forehead like dew on the morning grass. Did I just have a nightmare? I haven't had those since I was around seven!

No, that was impossible. I was sure I wasn't sleeping. Yes, my eyes were closed, but my mind was awake, wasn't it? I kept thinking about all this stuff, but then I just… woke up?

Was I still dreaming? I slowly looked around the room. Nothing changed. The monitors were still beeping, the blizzard was still howling, and the switch was still there. I was awake. Except you don't go from being awake to being awake with a scream. That's how nightmares end.

Gulping, I focused on calming myself done. The rhythmic sounds actually provided a nice foundation to match my heart rate to. Eventually, I was calm once more.

"Well, that happened."

I either needed to go to sleep or get the hell out of this room. Experience told me that trying to sleep was a bad idea. That left only one option.

Carefully gripping one of the tubes, I started to pull. It offered no resistance, and soon I was holding a threatening-looking needle in between my fingers. I put it down on the bed and proceeded to eliminate the rest from my body.

Finally, my flesh belonged to me again. Pushing my hands into the soft bed sheets for support, I slowly stood up. My legs were shaking from the pressure, unused to being exercised in god knows how long. Switching my hold from the bed to a nightstand, I straightened myself out and let out a breath of relief.

I was still alive, good news, everyone. Leaning on the wall for support, just in case, I made my wave to the door. It was unlocked. I left the room and entered the unfamiliar hallway, which looked exactly like every other hallway in this building that I've ever seen.

Except the main lights were off. Night hours were a thing, apparently. I randomly picked a direction and shuffled left. Walls, doors, hallways, more door, and more walls. The entire place was a bloody maze. Labyrinth. Whatever was the right word.

Eventually, my legs led me to a place of interest. The door in one of the hallways looked different. Curious, I almost didn't hesitate before leaning in to open it. It opened inward.

I stumbled and fell through the doorway, sending a dull echo in every direction. I had nothing to hide, but I really didn't want to interrupt anyone's sleep so this was rather unfortunate. Propping myself up, I carefully closed the door and looked around the dimly lit room.

It had the usual Chaldean color pallet, being a pristine white dome with pulsating blue lines running across the surface. In its center lied a stage of sorts, an elevated circle with something looking like a podium in front of it. Intrigued, I approached the podium and looked it over.

It didn't seem to have any drawers or containers of any kind, just a circular glass panel at the top. With nothing else to do, I tapped the panel. When nothing happened, I tapped it again. I refused to believe that this was just a decoration. After several more minutes of annoyed tapping at the glass surface, I placed my entire palm on it. And that was when things went South.

The entire room lit up as the glass flashed blue. From some hidden speakers, a mechanical female voice spread through the room.

"Imprint Identified. Welcome, Damien, Master of Chaldea. Activation Acknowledged, please Stand By."

"Activation? What activation?" I wasn't doing anything wrong, I kept telling myself. I was even identified, surely I was allowed to do whatever this was?

"Inquiry Acknowledged. Processing." The room was silent save for the hum of machines stacked within the walls, "Processing Complete. Answer: Activation of the FATE System."

Wait, FATE System? I was summoning a new Servant? Oh crap, I look like shit, what do I do?!

As I was rummaging through my head to find things to say to our newest arrival, the circular stage started to light up. In a similar fashion to when Cu was summoned, three bands formed around it and started to spin.

As the light intensified in brightness, I listened to the frantic beating of my heart and tried to calm down. Yes, I looked like a mummy and couldn't stay on my legs for any sufficient stretch of time, but I still had my protagonistic charm, right? Since I was the hero of this story and all that.

The humming bands rushed to meet each other in the center of the platform and I held my breath. Here goes nothing…

In a blinding flash, the bands burst into a veritable cloud of blue particles, floating in the air like a sapphire cloud. Behind the veil, I could discern a humanoid shape, though for some reason it just looked like a vertical blob. The Servant was definitely shorter than me, but that was all I could tell.

The corners of the silhouette started to flutter as if under an imaginary breeze. The robes, and therefore Enkidu, went right out the window. The cloth was too heavy to be forced in motion by a lack of wind. The only reasonable answer was the hair.

"You must have peculiar tastes to have summoned me," A cold, emotionless even, voice echoed across the room. For some reason, it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, "I am Servant Rider, command me as you will."

The shape slowly descended to the floor, presumably kneeling. As the dancing light started to fade into the air, the Servant was finally revealed. Long purple hair proved my guess correct, as well as a midnight black cloth that left little to the imagination, a… crimson mark on the forehead and a blindfold?

Talk about a coincidence.

"Well, it's certainly nice to see you, Rider," I started the conversation, awkwardly shuffling on my feet, "Have you, uh, have you been supplied with any information during your summoning?"

Medusa rose to her feet, fully revealing herself before my eyes. If I were not already acquainted with her adult Lancer version, I would've been left speechless for far longer than I was this time. Fortunately, I managed to realize that I was staring mere second after the fact, and hastily focused my gaze on her blindfold. If she noticed, which I didn't doubt, she showed no sign of it. Instead, she silently took in my appearance before coming down the platform and walking right up to me.

Not sure how to react, I just stood there, nervously tapping at the podium. The erratic beat didn't seem to faze her as she continued to stare at me through Breaker Gorgon. Eventually, my legs grew too weak to keep my body straight for any longer, and I decided it was about time to head back to bed. Before that, however, I had to make sure that my newest Servant was introduced to the facility.

"Yeah, this is way too awkward for my liking," I turned on my heels and headed out of the room, barely audible footsteps following right behind me, "Alright, first things first, welcome to Chaldea! The place is nice, though in need of some repairs. And the weather isn't the best. But! We do have some lovely company that will only grow as time goes on."

Medusa didn't utter a single word as I was walking her on a tour across Chaldea. As time went, I could feel my voice weakening and my legs start to give out, so I used walls to prop myself while walking. If it were just me, I'd rush to bed as soon as possible, but I had a new Family member to greet, so spending time with Medusa was currently more important. Besides, having such a sight was sore eyes walking beside you really soothed my poor fried nerves.

Eventually, I led her to our final destination, the cafeteria, from which loud cheerful shouts echoed in every direction. Giving the youngest gorgon a bashful smile, I walked through the arched hallway and entered the dining zone. Surpassingly, even now, during the 'night hours,' it had plenty of visitors. Mostly Chaldean staff, a menagerie of people who were drinking away the stress from our most recent mission. Around half a dozen of them were already sleeping under the tables, so at least someone was having a good time.

In the very middle of the room, an especially impressive crowd gathered and was currently cheering someone up. Three guesses as to who, first two don't count.

As I approached the gathering, people started to notice me, and the ambient noise began to drop down. People across the room stopped drinking for a few seconds, before raising their cups and mugs in a salute and gulping down the whole thing. I felt heat creep up my cheeks as something warm swelled within my chest. This felt rather nice, I had to admit.

Not knowing what to do, I smiled and waved to everyone I could see, receiving understanding chuckles in return. These people were actually kind of nice. What I _did not _like, however, was the way their eyes widened when they saw Rider. Admiration was one thing, but, them being drunk, I was kind of anxious about what might happen. Fortunately, it didn't go past the stares. I really didn't want to deal with anything stressful right now, not with my body inciting a rebellion against itself.

We reached the main crowd and I could finally witness with my own eyes what the fuss was about. Unsurprisingly, the culprit turned out to be none other than Cu Chulainn. The man himself had a massive grin on his face, almost sneering at the Chaldean employ who desperately tried to down another mug of some alcoholic beverage. Obviously, the table they were sitting at was already loaded with empty mugs, so many, in fact, that some of the onlookers were building towers out of them. Everyone being drunken, these towers looked as crooked as boogeyman's nails and collapsed seconds after being built. Everyone found it fun though, so the mug towers were built anew.

I turned to Medusa and gestured at Cu.

"And this here is the other Heroic Spirit under my direct command. Cu Chulainn's the name, Irish Child of Light."

It was at this moment that the crowd went quiet and everyone turned at us. Cu's mug froze halfway to his mouth as his eyes bulged at the sight of Medusa. He stood up, loudly slamming his drink on the table, and turned to fully face my newest Servant.

"Well, hello there, beautiful!" Cu was visibly drunk, though not nearly as drunk as the rest of the room, "It's so nice of you to join our little party, here. Here, take a seat!"

He slightly swayed on the spot, twisting just enough to reveal a spare chair right beside his. My vision was getting cloudy at that point, but I couldn't help but grin at the scene. I was morally obligated to watch this unfold.

"I shall stand by my Master's side, Lancer," Medusa's voice was arctic cold.

"Oh come on, I'm sure…" Cu paused, "Have we met before? You seem familiar."

Her only response was a raised eyebrow. Cu narrowed his eyes and could hear metaphorical gears start to turn and clank in his mind. After approximately a minute of tense silence, Cu blurred. Surprised, I barely had the time to notice Rider summoning her chain and nails before I was tackled to the ground.

"She's back, Master, take cover!" Cu sprang to his feet, his spear ready and pointed at the 'enemy,' "Alright, missy, ready for round two?!"

I'd snicker at just how _confused_ Medusa looked if not for a tide of mind-shattering pain that was currently wracking my body. My vision went crimson and for a split second all thoughts inside my head vanished. It was just pain and me, locked within a prison of flesh. There was so much of it that I didn't feel even remotely inconvenienced. It was similar to 'white noise,' just something you register in the back of your mind.

Thus, surrounded by a metaphorical barrier of agony, I mused as to what led to this. I doubted that Cu broke any of my bones, it was probably the fact that I harshly fell onto the floor. Romani did say something about my nerves being damaged, as well as the outer layers of my skin. It seemed that the pressure of hitting the ground was enough to set them off. I sighed. This would end up with me spending more time in the hospital room, I just knew it.

Eventually, the bloody haze started to slowly vanish. As per tradition, I was greeted by a polished white ceiling. This time, however, I was still in the cafeteria even though it had changed drastically.

Broken furniture scattered all over the floor, cuts, and tears in the walls, and several Chaldean employees sprawled all over the place. Those were too slow to get the hell away in time, it seemed. Not too far from me, two people were breathing heavily, crouched and wary of the other making the first move.

The moment I tried to stand up, however, their standoff was broken. The screeching sound a chair leg made when I tried to get it out of the way instantly seized their attention, and both rushed to me. Even then, however, they couldn't help but trade a few blows along the way. Exasperated, I decided it was about time I interfered.

"Cut it out, already!" My throat felt rough as if I hadn't talked in a few days, "Cu, that's not the same one. I just summoned her alternative version."

Both paused, and Cu finally got a chance to look closely at his opponent. Already less drunk than he was when I first showed up, I could see the fog of confusion vanish from his eyes. With an audible slap, his hand crashed into the forehead.

Rider said nothing, simply forcing her nails to disappear and dashing to my side. As she helped me stand up, I saw motes of light vaguely shaped like linked chains floating of Cu's hand. Judging by the indignant yell, he saw it too.

"I knew it was there by the way!" He recalled Gae Bolg and hurried to assist Medusa, "Gotta say though, that was fun! Let's go at it again sometime later, I can't just entertain myself with drinks, after all."

With both their help, I could stand straight again, though my legs were visibly straining to keep my body up without collapsing.

"Ugh, thanks. Sorry the confusion, Rider, we recently fought someone who looked almost exactly like you. I guess Cu here was too drunk to tell the difference."

"Woah there, Master," Cu did his best to mic shock, "There is no such thing as _too_ drunk! I was barely drunk enough!"

Weakly chuckling at his antics, I attempted to shrug at Medusa, but since I essentially had to lean into them to stand upright it looked more like a spasm instead.

At this moment the doors to the cafeteria burst open and a veritable horde of people rushed in. Panicked Chaldean staff, some familiar and drunk, while others just sleepy and tired froze the moment the entered the room, mouth hanging open. A pained groan followed, and people left the room, presumably to get cleaning supplies. Tools for repair too.

Out of the crowd, three shapes burst forth, storming towards us like an impending thundercloud. Romani had his hands shaking with a look of bewildered denial on his face. His eyes kept roaming around the room, widening as he assessed the damages dealt. Da Vinci, on the other hand, was the definition of serenity, with the exclusion of a rhythmically twisting eyebrow.

The third arrival, unsurprisingly Mash, got to our position first, her expression constantly shifting between worry, anger, and confusion. She stared at Rider for a few seconds, before turning to me and just looking. It was rather unnerving, to be honest.

Motioning to Cu with my shoulder, I got him to free my hand so I could cough into my fist. By this time, the other two made it to us. Dr. Roman simply spread his arms to the sides, as if asking 'Why?!'

I coughed again, while Cu blanched.

"Well, you see, this is quite a long story, so…"

"Oh, but we have time, Damien!" Da Vinci chimed in, "We weren't supposed to since we sleeping and all, but now we have all the time in the world!"

I winced. Waking people up was a big 'No-No' for me, I was well aware of how hard it was to fall asleep sometimes.

"Alright then…" I took a deep breath, "It all began when you forgot to turn off the light switch…"

"…and that's how the cafeteria ended up this way," With a nod, I accepted a glass of water offered by Rider, "So yeah, this is my newest Servant, Rider. Be nice to her, she's shy."

I suppressed a smirk when I noticed Medusa's blindfold slightly twitch. That's right, dear, only _I_ am allowed to have a shell to hide in around these parts. You go on and make friends.

The reactions to my epoch varied greatly. Romani buried his face in his hands with a groan before running off to the supervise the clean-up. Mash just shook her head and took Cu's place in supporting my carcass. His confusion quickly turned to disgruntlement when Mash swung her head at the cleaning crew. The command was obvious, 'go help clean this stuff up.' She shot a glance at Medusa too, but said nothing.

I was about to offer my help to the staff, even though I knew I couldn't really help that much when Da Vinci tapped my shoulder.

"That's nice and all, but there's still something I can't understand," she dramatically pressed a finger against the corner of her lips, "How are you still conscious? You should've collapsed in pain minutes after unplugging yourself from the anesthetic."

So that's what it was. Huh. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my body. I could hear the frantic beating of my heart from the adrenaline still coursing in my veins, the heat on my face from the proximity to three beautiful beyond anything I could've encountered back home, the sound of my muscles tearing under the strain of supporting me, but…

Oh, there it is.

Turned out that I was, in fact, in pain. I just didn't notice. It was the 'white noise' hiding in the dark recesses of my mind, the quiet whispers of agony that seeped into my tissues with every step, but after everything I've been through recently, they just didn't attract enough attention from my brain. Similar to how people can't smell their own fragrance or feel their clothes on a constant basis. The problem was that now after I went looking for it, my brain finally located the pain and processed it.

I blacked out less than a second later.

Again, a white ceiling. Fantastic. This whole escalating ride of getting injured over and over was honestly getting kind of boring. I mean, sure, this wasn't a mobile game and bad things could happen, but _come on_!

I rolled my eyes around to survey the room and saw Medusa and Mash staring at each in the corner. Da Vinci was sitting on the edge of my bed and waved when she noticed me looking. Romani was nowhere to be seen, probably still directing the cleaning crew or getting the much-needed sleep.

I shifted around a bit and found myself hooked up to the same machine as before. This time, I didn't even think about pulling out the tubes.

"So, Doc," I addressed the genius, "What's the diagnosis?"

"You know, the usual," she started to count using her fingers, "Torn muscles and blood vessels, damaged nervous system, all but missing skin…" she tapped her chin, "A few gray hairs, I think. Oh! We did get the gorgon venom out of your system though. My Blood Recycler Mk.2 now has a total of fifteen shots!"

In the corner of my eye, I could see both Mash and Medusa stop whatever they were doing and just stare at us. Mash, obviously unaware of the aforementioned things before now, was growing paler with every word, while Medusa just leaned back and rested her head against the wall.

"Another suicidal idiot for a Master…" Came a barely audible whisper.

Ignoring the brief looks of confusion on both Mash and Da Vinci, I closed my eyes and pressed my head into the pillows as deeply as I could. In these few days, I've received more injuries than in my entire life. This sucked. Life sucked. Oh well, what else was new.

"At least I'm not dead yet, that's a plus," I shrugged my shoulders, "That does bring an issue to mind though. The next Singularity could be discovered at any time, and if I'm bedridden we'd just be wasting precious time."

That would be a disaster. The Camelot chapter ended up being the one glorious firework that it was explicitly because the protagonist was too late. If any of the Singularities were started a bit later on the plotline…

France could be crawling with wyverns, Dragonslayers long dead.

Rome would be wiped from the face of the Earth, Nero's legions overrun by the hordes of fakes and golems.

In Okeanos, Pandora's Box was just waiting to be opened by Jason's greedy hand.

Vampiric Fog spreading all over London and turning it into an unholy mix of Bloodborne and Phyrexia.

Celts overrunning America, wiping a major nation from history.

Rhongomyniad fully activating in Camelot.

Tiamat being already awake the moment we reach Babylon.

Any of those, along with countless other possibilities meant Humanity's doom and a Game Over for me. Any second lost increased Goetia's chances of winning. Any thought and motion not dedicated to the Grand Order increased Goetia's chances of victory. Any weakness or flaw we might have increased Goetia's chances of victory.

I could not allow myself the privilege of being weak.

Opening my eyes, I looked at the Italian genius with the most serious look I could muster.

"Can you patch me up?"

She glanced to the sides as if trying to find the one I was addressing before pointing at herself with an arched brow. I continued to stare.

"But I'm not a doctor, Damien, that's Roman's job," It seemed she honestly didn't understand what I wanted.

Silently, I shifted my eyes to look at her gigantic and possibly prosthetic arm, then back at her. Judging by the sharp intake of breath, Da Vinci finally got the memo. She also wasn't the only one.

"W-what are you saying, Senpai?!" Mash was up in my face in a matter of seconds, "You really, really want to…?!"

"No."

Now it was my time to raise an eyebrow.

"You don't know what you're asking for," Her voice was as firm as metal her arm was made of, "Your wounds are grievous, true, but not crippling. Not incurable. Not in this situation. With professional doctors like Romani around, even if he doesn't seem like it, you'll be back on your feet in no time. I refuse to augment your body without a need so dire that the alternative would be you dying."

Despite a pang of bitterness within my chest, I found myself admiring her character even more. This was exactly what I wanted. No indecisiveness, no ambiguity of the 'real world.' The character, the force of personality, the conviction weaved into her words, the look of dedication to her beliefs stitched onto Da Vinci's face. This truly was the best.

With a small smile on my lips, I backed out of the argument. After all, why press forward when you're clearly the winner?

"As you wish, then," I was also slightly relieved I wouldn't be a target of any invasive surgeries any time soon, "Could somebody at least teach me some Magecraft then? Knowing even the basics would be nice."

With a sigh of relief, Mash moved away from my face and righted her uniform. The red tie was a nice touch, I had to admit.

"I'll see what I can do, Senpai."

"I shall ask around as well," Da Vinci stood up and reached out to pat my head. It felt… weird. Unsure of what to do, I weathered the feeling of my hair being ruffled, "You rest for now. After all, you have to deserve such magnificent augmentations as mine first! A genius always has better things to do, yes!"

On that cheerful note, Da Vinci left the room with Mash following soon after. Not without a 'good night, Senpai,' of course. Fortunately, this time they _did_ turn off the lights.

I rolled my muscles under the bedsheets, taking a more comfortable position, and closed my eyes once more. Now was the hard part.

Still not asleep. Dammit. One would think that after several life-endangering experiences and brushes with death itself in the form of hostile Servants falling asleep would be easy. But no, of course, nothing could be that simple.

I rolled onto my right side, squishing my arm under my whole body. The moment I did that, I felt something shift under my skin. Faster than my mind could process the felling, I was lying straight again. Bloody needles. Bloody wires.

So I'm a mummy now, that's a thing. Cool concept if not for all the 'terribly injured' stuff accompanying it. I could learn sand Magecraft and go full Crocodile of everyone's asses. Throw random sandstorms left and right, grind people's bones to dust like Gaara.

Or maybe I could pursue my previous life's goal and study something related to biology. I could make chimeras and homunculi, maybe even tweaking my body at some point. I mean seriously, I burned my skin and nerves off just my being in the vicinity of some mana blast. Stupid frail human body. Weak.

Well, compared to little animals, such as insects and smaller mammals, humans are pretty sturdy. Except almost any injury is crippling, and getting those injuries is as easy as paying slightly less attention to your surroundings. You walk down the street close to a building and a brick falls on top of you. Boom, crippled. Or dead.

You walk across the road, too slow to react to a speeding car driven by a drunkard. Crippled. Or dead. You go grocery shopping but surprise-surprise, there's a bank robbery. Step left – beaten to near death. Step right – shot. Maybe crippled, maybe dead. Depends on the luck, I guess.

And so on and so forth. The worst part is, if humans had sturdier bones we wouldn't have been in such danger. If we had stronger regeneration, a good chunk of possible injuries would stop being crippling. If everyone had natural armor coating or something, the deaths rates would drop dramatically. But we don't because that's simply how it. I hate this body.

I rolled to my left, embracing the needles digging into my flesh. A fitting punishment for such as I. Would you look at that guy, he hates the species he's supposed to save. So much for being a hero. Pathetic, so utterly pathetic. Despicable even.

I swayed right and left to tuck the edges of the bedsheet beneath me. Hidden by the soft cloth, I bent my arms in a classic 'pharaoh' position. It was warm. Too bad such warmth was wasted on a disgrace of a human being like me.

It was a good thing I've never actually hated anything in my entire life, I would've been concerned for my mental health otherwise. Kind of sad really. Never hated anything, never felt real anger. The most intense emotions I've ever experienced were various degrees of annoyance. But if one hates something they dislike the most, then it would only be fair to say that I hate myself.

Good thing I don't, then.

Still awake, I see. Of course, I am, I keep thinking about some emo bullshit instead of trying to clear my mind and go to sleep. Oh excuse me, I forgot how sensitive and self-deprecating you are. Here, take some tissues, wipe yourself off the face of this planet. Dimension, whatever. I probably sound edgy whenever I get some time to think. I hate thinking. Thoughts spiral out of control, dragging me into the gaping abyss of depression. But hey, I have Servants now, I'm sure they can cheer me up!

That is if any of them actually care about you. Did you really think you're charismatic? That you'll immediately become friends with everything? Tough luck, genius, but this is reality.

Reality.

I entered the 'fantasy,' thus turning it into 'reality.' I just ruined this whole world with my presence, didn't I? No more heroic moments, no more epic moments of perseverance and self-development. Only routine, depression, and death. Good job fixing it, Hero!

I wonder if I do this to just to sound edgy and 'special,' or if I actually think that way. Kind of depressing really. And that's the second time I've said that phrase. How sad.

Goddammit, not this again. Go away, Tristan Me. But why, Damien, this is such a perfect moment, we can be depressed together!

Why do I talk to myself again?

I don't know.

Why do I live?

Well, that's a dumb question.

Will you answer?

To live, moron.

What?

Life is an Open World game. Do whatever you want. Be whoever you want. Enjoy yourself.

But what if I can't?

Why?

What, 'why?'

Why can't you?

Because… things. That's a loaded question, it varies from example to example.

Then provide some. You wanted to become a scientist, did you not? So act like one. Pick a situation, examine, gather data, and come to a conclusion.

Well, say I'm about to die from starvation.

What a wonderful start, I like it already.

Shut up.

No, you.

Argh, anyway! I'm about to starve and I need food to survive. But I don't have any money. In this specific situation, I need to rob a shop and still some food.

Alright, so what's the problem?

Stealing is wrong, that's what.

Why?

Again with it?

No, seriously. Why wouldn't you be able to steal the food in that hypothetic situation?

Because it's wrong, duh.

Why?

I will murder you.

You can always try. In any case, that was a legitimate question. What's wrong with it?

Stealing is.

Really now?

Get to the goddamn point.

What's stopping your parents from killing you in your sleep?

Woah there, dude. Not cool.

Answer the question.

Oh, I don't know, the fact that I'm their son?

Does it now? What does you being their son has to do with picking a kitchen knife, sneaking into your room at night, and jamming it through your trachea? Does this knowledge physically stop such a scenario?

Well, no. But! That knowledge prevents them from doing it at all. Because that's how psychology works!

Aye, because that's how they were raised. How they were made. And the conclusion is…

...nothing stops them from killing me in my sleep…

Or you from doing it to them. Good. But that doesn't happen, now does it? So what's the real deal here?

...Myself. Themselves. We prevent ourselves from doing it. There, happy? What does it mean anyway?

It means, my dear friend, that the only thing stopping you from robbing that store is yourself. As such, you _can_ do whatever you want. Enjoy yourself.

And what if it's a bank? I'd get gunned down and/or go to jail. Security is a thing, man.

That's where you are wrong, buddy. Security could stop you from getting to the money, or getting away with the money. But what's stopping you from robbing that bank in the first place?

Myself.

That's right. You can do anything. We can do anything. Just mind the consequences, no need to turn Chaotic Stupid. We were always partial to Neutral Evil. Or Chaotic Neutral. Enjoy yourself.

Fine, you're right… Doesn't change the fact that my psyche is not as malleable as when I was a kid. I can't just re-raise myself.

And that the best part! What you're doing right now, this whole conversation? It's not the first time we had this discussion.

Duh, it happens like every other night.

Well, yes, but I meant recently. While you were talking Da Vinci. Why do think you asked her to find a way to teach you Magecraft?

You don't mean…

What the first thing every magus learns?

…

Self-hypnosis.

Aye.

I can be whatever I want.

Like clay molded in the hands of God. Wonderful, isn't it?

Aye.

My eyes shot open when I felt something brushing against my bedsheet. Since I already adjusted to the darkness, I could easily discern a silhouette heading for the door. A lightning-fast mental calculation perfectly matched up with the picture my eyes transferred into my brain and I realized that Medusa had never left the room. Good thing I didn't talk out loud, eh?

Aye.

Shut up, self-reflection time's over. Before she could leave, I called out to her.

"Hey," I whispered. I had no idea why I stopped her, so when she turned to look at me the situation leaned on the awkward side, at least for me, "Ehm. Could you stay here?"

My mouth spat out the last words before my brain could go over them. I froze in panic. That was a dumb thing to say. A stupid thing to say. What was I thinking?!

Medusa's blindfold crinkled and what I could swear was a frown formed on her lips. Both visions vanished like a mirage less than a second later. Unsure of what to do, I simply kept silent and waited for her reaction.

She reached for the edge of her dress-skirt-thing covering her chest and tugged down. Before anything dangerous could be revealed, my arms had already thrown the covers over me, my body curling around itself to protect both my eyes and my brain.

"What the hell are you doing!" My half-panicked half-shocked yell came out as a whisper because of how constricted my throat felt, "I asked you to stay, not to undress. To stay, dammit, how do you even confuse the two?!"

As I tried to calm down my wildly pounding heart, I pondered on the current situation. Perhaps some would say that I overreacted. Perhaps they would be right. But there was absolutely no way I'd risk my mental and corporal purity like this. She was my Servant, for Hell's sake! That meant she was pure, wonderful, and numerous other positive descriptions. But most importantly, without all the nasty parts! If there was one thing I was sure about, it was that should I see any 'nether regions' that I had a chance of encountering just now, this fantasy would shatter without repair.

If she thought I was like Shinji, then she probably assumed I wanted to spend the night with her in a more "active" manner. She couldn't be more wrong. Copulation was a thing of reality. It was dirty, disgusting, generally atrocious, and belonging solely to the hell-hole that was the real world. As such, prior to even twitching to take the covers off, I had to make sure the horizon was clear.

"Are you decent?"

"…yes…"

Huh, she sounded strange. Oh well, probably all that blood ringing in my ears interfered with my hearing. I extended my hand, ignoring the straining wires that got all messed up when I assumed the 'cannonball' position. Carefully lifting the cover of my fortress, I peeked out. She really was decent. Crawling out of my shell, I stared at her with as much indignation as possible.

"Where did they teach you manners, Rider? You don't just… just do that!" I shook my head, dark shapes of hair momentarily blocking my vision, "I simply wanted you to stay in the room! I'm not even sure why at this point…"

Shoulders lightly hunched, she nodded and marched into the corner of the room she was previously occupying. Satisfied that she wasn't going to try anything fishy again, I repeated my transformation into a bed caterpillar.

My god, different times really do have different customs. I swear to God if other Servants are the same…

I took a deep breath to settle my rampaging nerves and sunk back into the pillow. Then I took about half an hour whirling in bed and trying to unwind all the tubes. A twitching eyebrow, several smothered curses, and hand red from all the needles shifting around, I could finally exhale in relief.

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again.

I finally realized why I asked Medusa to stay – I just didn't want to be left alone right now. The memories from my deployment were still fresh and wormed their way into my thoughts whenever they could. All the brushes with death, all the fire greedily devouring an entire city, the imposing figure of a Tainted King whose mere presence almost forced me to my knees. Alone, I would've broken. Not in a sense that I would die, that much is obvious, but mentally. I don't think humans are supposed to be able to withstand so much stress. Yet another notch in the book of "Humanity a shit." But know…

Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the youngest gorgon watching me, her presence washing over me like a guardian angel. My body relaxed by itself, taut muscles expanding and my breathing evening out. With every exhale stress and anxiety left my mind, abandoning me inside a blissful void. No worries. No fears. No thoughts…

Back so soon?

Screw you too, mate.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

_I have to go faster._

_Trees are blurring around me as I dash through the forest, turning into twin walls of black and brown. Nothing can stand in my way. I swing my spear with great force, sending gales of wind to clear out the path before me. Bark splinters and leaves scatter as I run past them. I can feel that time is running out._

_They are in danger, I cannot allow them to come to harm. This forest is in the way. I can feel my muscles strain and adjust to suit my needs. I start going faster. It's not nearly enough. I put more force into each kick and hear the earth crack and shatter with every step. I send myself flying with every push._

_Rising over the canopy, I can finally see my destination. It's a camp. An Ulster camp, my memory supplies me. I can't see anyone there. My heart tells me that I'm late. My body begs me to stop. My mind urges me forward. There might be survivors, I have to save them if that's the case. At all costs._

_My legs start to hurt, but I ignore them. I can see the clearing now. With a final push, I leave forest and land squarely in the middle of the camp. Without wasting a single second, I spin around trying to locate any movement. There is none as if the land itself turned to stone._

_In fact, it does seem to be stone. Buildings twist and warp, wood melting away to reveal the cold rock and stained marble. Carved columns erupt from the ground, sending flecks of blood flying in every direction. My heart stops._

_Blood means that someone is here. Someone that shouldn't be. I drop down on my knees and swipe some blood with my finger. Smells fresh. Hope fills my entire being, I might still have time._

_Hopping back on my legs, I turn around and run. They're waiting for me. Begging for me to protect them. And that's exactly what I plan to do._

_Protect, protect, protect._

_Save, save, save._

_I run for almost ten minutes. This is a very big camp. Somewhere in the distance I see water but dismiss it as a simple trick of imagination. Finally, I reach them. Bodies sprawled all over, faces frozen in fear. Men wearing leather armor and chain mail, carrying swords and spears. Fools, all of them._

_Don't they know what happens to those who come here?_

_Suddenly I hear movement right behind me. Spinning on the balls of my feet, I rear my arm back and hurl my trusty spear. The crimson shaft rips through the air in a blink of an eye and digs deep into one of the columns. There is a high-pitched scream. What have I done?_

_I pull the chain clanged in my fist and the attached nail escapes the grasp of marble, reappearing in my head. With no hesitation, I launch myself at the column. There is another body behind it._

_It is petite, almost childish. Flowing fabric of pure white accentuated by black ornaments. Youthful face, so full of innocent beauty and childish naiveté. But something is wrong. The features are twisted, smooth lines made for happiness are now forever frozen in agony. Forever._

_The skin is grey, just like the stone it rests upon. The clothes too. Is this really a body? Why do I feel so much grief just for a statue? It feels wrong, but somehow I know it's right._

_Looking back, I see other bodies. They're grey too. They also look different. All lithe, all wearing the same dresses. Twin tails that somehow know used to be purple. My body feels heavy. I… I am so tired._

_I just want to rest._

_I drop down and lean against the damaged column. My hand slips down to brush through the body's hair but meets only solid stone. I am late. They are all dead now, because of me._

_I wish I could at least say my final goodbye…  
_

My eyes slowly peeled open, my mind hazy as if full of thick fog. The ceiling swam before my eyes getting closer yet further away at the same time. With a groan, I lightly slapped myself awake. The lights were still off, so I didn't feel quite vigorous just by waking up.

It took me several minutes of rhythmically striking my cheek to feel properly alive and ready for the day. Rising up on my elbows, I observed the current state of the room. For better, or for worse, nothing changed. The improvised IV was still connected to me, filling my bloodstream with anesthetics, and Medusa was still sitting in the corner.

Perking up at the last sight, I engaged in a few seconds of guilty pleasure, simply looking at her motionless form. I couldn't tell for sure, but my guess was that she fell asleep at some point. Without making a sound, I dropped back in bed and rolled myself up in blankets. I didn't really have anything to do right now, and waking Rider up went against everything that I believed in. Because I've always had so much difficulty falling asleep, it has become sort of sacred to me. Waking people up was just plain wrong and that was the end to the story.

After almost ten minutes of doing absolutely nothing, I felt a dull throb build up in the back of my head. With an annoyed sigh, I spun and turned on my stomach, straining the wires against the bandages. I was getting bored by now.

A quick glance confirmed that Medusa was still sleeping as far as I was aware, and I didn't want to mentally contact Mash or Cu for fear of interrupting their sleep too. I pressed my face into the pillow, barely leaving any path for the oxygen. It was a bit uncomfortable, but regulating my breathing to use the air efficiently at least gave me something to do.

Sometime later, I was getting bored again. Hastily abandoning my measly attempts at self-asphyxiation, I unwound the wires and stared blankly at the ceiling in hopes of coming up with something else.

That way, glancing every couple minutes at the gorgon, I managed to play rock-paper-scissors with myself, tick-tack-toe by drawing lines with nails on my arm, tap the rhythm of "We Will Rock You" on the side of the bed, and tinker with Da Vinci's IV. The last one was a bit risky, but I didn't actually press anything, only tracing the visible circuitry with my fingers and observing the monitors.

Fortunately, about an hour in I was saved.

The door creaked open, instantly drawing my attention. I jerked away from the beeping machinery and assumed my most believable 'just woke up' stance. I could only see the arm in the doorway, but a giant yawn was already blooming on my face. So when Mash entered, I imagined she was greeted with a perfectly sleepy me, trying to rub the last dreamy remnants from my eyes.

Dropping my arm, I looked at her with a droopy smile and a lax, seemingly boneless, posture.

"Good morning, Senpai," she whispered after giving Medusa a quick glance, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I lowered my voice as much as possible, "After what we've been through a night of relaxation is all one could ask for."

Mash tiptoed to my bed and sat at the very edge, clearly unwilling to invade my personal space, a gesture I appreciated from the bottom of my heart. Though I did enjoy a brief view of thighs as she took a seat. Everything said and done, despite my aversion to things carnal, I enjoyed the aesthetics as much as the next guy. Servants were just too pleasing to look at, perfection in both heart and body. My mind drifted to the days of mundanity when I spent my time lying around in bed reading and playing video games.

The pages of Cirnopedia flashed before my eyes one by one, scenes from various Fateverse anime, and pictures from novels painted by my imagination. A dream about me standing on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by a veritable army of Legends, all unique in their own way. Shining blades, glimmering shields, and polished staves crackling with Magic. And across us, a tide of blackness, crawling and churning with unspeakable shapes. Just have to wait for Babylonia now…

"Senpai?" My eyes refocused on a dainty hand going up and down right in front of my face, "Ah, you were spacing out. Uhm, I know you're not in the best condition right now, so I brought you something to eat. For breakfast. So you don't have to strain yourself going to the cafeteria. Here."

Mumbling out the last few sentences, Mash reached into one of the pockets on her uniform and pulled out something akin to a wrapped brick. It barely fit in her hand and looked like someone stacked several bars of chocolate on top of each other, and then wrapped them all in white paper. Or whatever that thing was.

I partially pulled myself out of my cocoon to lean on the wall, instinctively shoving the pillow aside as to not sit on it. Reaching out with one hand, I accepted her offering, being careful not to touch her fingers in the process.

"Thanks, Mash," I nodded at her with a smile, "I really appreciate this."

I looked down and started unwrapping by breakfast, but I still managed to notice her slightly blush out of the corner of my eye. Well, that was a first. I've never been interested in romantic relationships back home as I viewed them as too much bother and zero returns, but being nice to people wasn't so bad, it seemed. I knew that, unlike the protagonist, I wasn't a super charismatic ladykiller, but seeing how something I said made someone else at least a bit happier…

Feels good, man.

Maybe there was something to being a hero after all?

The mysterious package turned out to contain some weird ration that looked like bread. After a single bite, my opinion of Chaldea's chefs went from "They exist?" to "These guys are geniuses!" The food indeed felt like bread but tasted nothing like one. It was as if a full-blown lunch, which chicken and soup and whatever have you, was compressed into one loaf and then approved by Gordon Ramsay. Amazing is what it was.

"So, Mash," I swallowed the bite and whispered to her before taking another one, "Thanks for the breakfast again, by the way, and give the chef my gratitude as well. This thing is delicious."

"You need to get better, Senpai, and as your Servant, it is only natural for me to take care of you," she smiled back, "I will be sure to give the chef your thanks."

"Thanks. What was I talking about again? Wait, no, I wasn't talking about anything. I was thinking about something, though. Give me a sec, would you?"

My thoughts felt a bit scrambled, so I took my time tracing them back one by one. I was thinking about chefs after tasting the breakfast, which in turn happened after Mash walked in. And I was pretending to have just woken up for some reason or other. Probably because I thought it would be fun. Anyway, being sleepy went from…waking up, duh. Waking up with nothing to do. That's it!

"There we go, did Da Vinci tell you when I can be discharged? I know I'm in full care and all that, but I would really like to take a shower. Pretty sure I can still feel all that soot and grime back from Fuyuki."

"You are yet to fully heal, Senpai, so discharging you before that happens could make things even worse," she looked pensive, "But I will ask Da Vinci or Dr. Roman if they can think of something. Meanwhile, do your best to recuperate, we never know when the next Singularity could be discovered."

"Right you are," I swiftly finished the lunch loaf and placed the rolled up wrapping on my nightstand, "Nevertheless, I feel like I'm about to die of boredom. If there literally anything I can do?"

"As a matter of fact!" A loud chirpy voice rang from the doorway, "I have just the solution to your problem!"

Busting the door open, Da Vinci marched in with a big goofy smile on her face and several leather-bound tomes tucked underneath her arm. Her usual attire was already on display for the world to see, which made sense considering those were her Servant clothes, frills of gold and blue immediately filling the bleak white room with an array of colors.

"Da Vinci?!" Mash sprang up from bed with a squeak of surprise. At that point, with all the noise going around the room, I worriedly looked at Medusa only to see her straighten her posture. Unfortunate, but nothing I could do about it. Robbing her of sleep by asking her to stay here was mighty selfish of me. I apologetically nodded in her direction, receiving a slight bow of the head in return. Considering that her face was a blank mask, and an actual mask was covering her eyes, I had no idea whether I was forgiven or not. The future would show, it seemed.

"It is I indeed! Perhaps you may have forgotten, but this entire observatory is my Workshop, so the second I heard your plea for help I rushed here to provide assistance!" With an audible thud, she dropped the books on the nightstand, causing a wave of vibration that reached even my bed. Curiously, the paper wrapping that previously occupied the small table vanished under the mound of literature with no trace. I slowly looked up at the genius and imperceptibly flinched when I saw her understanding, and eager, grin.

"Our resident slacker was supposed to be here too right now, but he heard something about you being bored and rushed to his office without a single word. I say, the nerve of that man! Good ear though." Riiiight, of course, Romani just magically overheard a whisper through the wall, sure thing. Gotta get ready for any surprises just in case.

"Good morning to you too, Da Vinci," I warily addressed the genius, "And what brings you here on this fine morn?"

"Wonderful question, my inquisitive pupil!" She pulled out a pair of black-rimmed glasses out of nowhere and neatly rested them on the bridge of her nose, "To answer it, I shall tell you this: Seeing how you were straining under the crushing weight of boredom, I decided to help out by properly introducing you to the world of Magecraft through these fascinating book series."

Magic?! I finally get to learn magic?! Faster than I had any right to move in my current condition, my arms snapped to the side and returned carrying several kilograms of mystic knowledge bound in paper. A massive tome with a light brown cover and golden weave trimming the borders was gently placed on my knees as I traced the title with trembling fingers.

_Mag-__ic-__ecraft 101 by Yours Truly. _Curiously, the 'ic' part was carefully crossed out, breaking the atmosphere of the otherwise imposing book.

"Really?" The spell broken, I turned to Da Vinci with a look bewildered betrayal on my face, "Really?"

"W-well, I was busy repairing that one part of a very important function of the Command Room at the time, and, uh, my hand slipped," She stared back at me with a twitching brow as she scratched her cheek, "Of course, that wouldn't have been enough to even disrupt the work of a genius of my caliber, but that was when the very important part I mentioned exploded. Luckily, the blast was contained with my main Workshop, which is why no one heard anything, but the molten gold flying across the room just so happened to land on the book in that specific way. Crazy luck, right?"

As Mash and Medusa just silently looked at the genius, pressuring her even further, I checked the cover of the books to confirm that, indeed, the title was printed in gold. Shrugging my shoulders in exasperation, I opened to the first page and dove into the sea of knowledge, accompanied by the chatter of three Servants.

As I turned page after page, I realized that nothing completely new was presented to me so far. Sure, there were many more details, but overall I have already seen and learned this stuff from watching and playing the Fate franchise. General knowledge about the interactions between Mana, Prana, and Od, with a brief mention of True Ether. Painstakingly organized procedure to perform the ritual to determine one's Element and Origin, something to definitely do later. Some basic spells and, of course, self-hypnosis – the foundation of Magecraft.

I have no idea how much time has passed since I have started reading, but by the time I looked up from the tome to give my eyes some rest, I was alone in the room. The lights steadily illuminated by temporary prison, causing the plant standing right across the room to catch my attention. There was nothing special about it, just a moderately big piece of flora, but the bright green somehow made the room feel more alive. Similar to how the room changed when Da Vinci came in bursting with colors, so this plant lifted my spirits just by looking at it. My soul was filled with determination, one could say.

Looking back at the stack of books, I noticed a new item. Or rather items. Resting at the top of the literature mountain was a thick stack of papers with barely visible print on them, as well as a blue pen. Setting the Magecraft primer I was holding aside, I picked up the highest paper and brought it closer to my eyes.

_Chaldea Rooming Request #593  
_

Another one.

_Maintenance Report #48: SHEBA_

_Chaldea Rooming Request #594_

_Servant Quarters Plan #7_

Paperwork.

That bastard Romani gave me his paperwork. With a weary sigh, I placed the reports back on the stack of papers and lifted the whole thing. Heavy. Placing my newly-found headache beside the Magecraft textbook, I took some time looking at the two.

On one hand, I could spend my rehabilitation time to finish the magic primer, something that I was extremely tempted to do. Even now, after the first shock had already worn off, my body was shaking at the mere thought of learning Magecraft. I could be a magus! And, perhaps, one day I would become powerful enough to bear the title of a Wizard. Grand spells, reality-altering magic, my own mage tower full of minions and servants… Well, Servants, rather.

On the other hand, all this waste of paper could actually be important and probably was. Despite having only one Master, me, and being rather low on staff, Chaldea was still an organization with countless things to be taken care of. With what's at stake, if Chaldea doesn't function like a well-oiled machine, that could spell doom for the entirety of humanity. A single mistake could mean failure. I guess it was about time I started learning to be selfless.

With a heavy heart, I placed _Mag-__ic-__ecraft 101 _on the nightstand, picked up the pen and got to work. Most papers were just reports that required but a signature, but a few of them were asking for a decision to be made. Seeing how I was in no way ready to decide the inner working of Chaldea as a whole, I set those aside and absentmindedly signed every paper that needed it.

Several hours later and after changing around seven positions in attempts to maintain comfort, I finally gave up. This was insane. If this weren't real, I wouldn't believe it, but even after all this time, the pack of unchecked paper barely diminished. And that was without me reading the goddamn papers. Hissing in frustration, I dropped _CHALDEAS Maintenance Report #13 _on the floor beside the bed, and lightly slammed the back of my head against the wall.

As the dull ringing sound reverberated through the room and the spike of pain began to recede, I weighed my options. I could continue signing the papers. But that would signify my commission to the task which in turn meant that I was obligated to _read_ those papers before signing them. So I would have to go over the papers that I've already signed. Needless to say, I had absolutely no desire to do that.

I could also return to reading the tome on Magecraft, help my mind relax a bit. Unlike the monotonous signature stamping, I actually enjoyed learning more about thaumaturgy, so that would be a nice choice. Of course, I could also just lay in bed and no nothing, that was always an option.

However, this was when the secondary details came in. If I didn't finish signing the papers, I would essentially be returning the work to Romani. Sure, the guy deserved it for dumping his workload on me without asking, but knowing what I did about the future, it felt like the douchiest move in the history of mankind. The man had a lot on his plate as it was.

Now that I thought about, I actually felt kind of guilty for even thinking about giving the unmarked papers back. It just wasn't the right thing to do. Unfortunately, it also meant going through Hell for me, since I didn't possess the mental fortitude necessary to overcome such a trial.

So I set there, surrounded by dead trees and contemplating the meaning of life, when my ingenious mind came up with a simple, yet brilliant, idea that could solve all of my problems at once. Well, 'all of my problems' was a bit stretching it, but hey, whatever works best.

My heart started to pump faster in anticipation, as I reached and picked up the Magecraft primer. Wiping the gathered sweat from my hands before opening the book, I swiftly found the page I needed. There it is, _Basics of Magecraft: Beginning Your Career as a Caster_. A bit too high a plank, if you ask me, but not without its grain of truth. Ignoring the parts I've already read, I finally reached the first practical and one of the most important steps of becoming a magus – self-hypnosis.

This particular version of hypnosis was used magi on the heirs and any other newly-initiated members in order to allow them to use magic in the first place. See, for the modern people, magic wasn't real. It was a thing of instinct, something hardwired. The sky was blue, the Earth was a sphere, and magic was a thing of fairy tales. So this particular exercise was developed in order to brainwash the future generations of spellcasters into believing that all those fancy stories were real and, in fact, 'you're a wizard, Augustus Magnolicus the Twenty-Fourth of the most ancient bloodline of Idrignis Carolie.' I swear magi in Nasuverse had some sweet, albeit usually ridiculous, names.

Regardless, history was about to be made. Pun intended. Considering we're saving history and all that. Anyway. Nervously snickering to myself at the joke in order to try and calm down, I've finally found the procedure I've been looking for.

"Alright, here goes nothing."

I leaned back, resting my still painfully throbbing head against the cool metal, and closed my eyes. Right now, I needed to clear my head and sense my Magical Circuits. Fortunately, I knew was sure that I had mine unlocked and a way to access them. My Command Seals. The was no way I could use my Command Seals without being able to activate my Magical Circuits. At least I hoped there wasn't. Well, no harm in trying.

I think.

Aaanyway, I did my best to imagine a clear white expanse before my mind's eye. Not a single breeze of wind, not a single distracting sound, nothing. The world was pure. It didn't matter whether something was above or below me, for there was nothing, and all was white. Except, of course, for that BLASTED BEEPING MACHINE THAT I WAS ABOUT TO _STRANGLE WITH MY OWN BARE HANDS IF IT DIDN'T __**SHUT THE HELL UP!**_

"I'm calm," I whispered under my nose, doing my best to ignore the cursed sound, "Calm like the sea… The sea of white… With nothing in it…"

An indiscriminate amount of time later and several mental outbursts that brought me on the border of hitting sadistic IV with my already injured hands, I finally managed to achieve a semblance of peace. Everything seemed to be in order, and the muffled beeping didn't distract me as much anymore. Rolling my imaginary shoulders in satisfaction, I got to the second part of my plan.

In my current state of mind, I used every available ounce of will I had left to concentrate on my Command Seals and the feeling that coursed through my veins when I summoned Cu. Medusa's summoning, unfortunately, lacked that punch, probably because she was summoned with the full support of Chaldea's FATE system, and after the facility's energy reserves were restored. Surprisingly, I found what I was looking for almost immediately.

Starting at the back of my hand, I could mentally trace the slightly blurry lines that spread all over my body. The moment I identified them, I felt my flesh heat up, beads of sweat forming on my forehead not a moment later. This, this feeling was something else. Nothing less than liquid _power_ flowing through my veins, filling my muscles with energy. Even my brain felt like it was pumped with adrenaline.

Despite my best attempts to retain complete concentration, I felt a smile creeping up on my face. Unwilling to spread my focus to suppress it, I let it be. After all, now was the moment of destiny.

Just as I was about to imprint the mental command into my own cranial hardware, I realized that something was amiss. I haven't actually come up with what I wanted to hypnotize into my brain. That… was a problem. Brutally stomping down any inkling of panic, I tried my best to come up with the optimal solution. First of all, I needed to force myself to believe in magic. Then, I had to somehow improve my willpower to aid Chaldea in the Restoration of Humanity to the best of my ability.

Okay, first things first.

**MAGIC IS REAL**

Nothing? No, not nothing. Something was there, just outside my zone of serenity. Whatever it was, I was sure it would drill right into my brain the moment I let my guard down. It was kind of scary, really. Scary enough to make my control slip for the briefest of seconds and feel something slam into my consciousness. Fortunately, I regained control not a moment later, forcing that something to continue lurking just outside my mental fortress. Hopefully, there was nothing to fear, and it was simply how self-hypnosis felt. Hopefully.

Alright, what else? Uhm, I needed to get read of my laziness in order to improve my efficiency. I could just say something like 'Forgo Sloth,' but that sounded a tad bit… extreme. What to do, what to do. Argh, his intense focus was beginning to put too much pressure on my brain, I had to finish this up sooner than later if I wanted to wake up without a headache. 'Paperwork is your friend'? No, that was ridiculous. 'Aid Chaldea to the best of your ability'? That was not just ridiculous, it was terrifying. I'd prefer to stay away from _actual_ brainwashing if I could. At least on myself or those, I care about, despite how clichéd it sounded.

Ouch, maintaining this was kind of painful.

I didn't like pain.

Ah, screw it. I could change it later if wanted to.

**FORGO SLOTH**

Oof. Another presence, double the strain. I felt my available time running out very, very quickly. If I had any other ideas left to apply, now was the time. Come on, genius, no need to waste an opportunity, do something useful for once!

Pain.

Painpainpainpainpain…

Bingo!

**FEEL NO PAIN**

My vision went black.

I awoke to the steady beeping of the IV. Ignoring the ever-present white ceiling, I sat up straight on the bed and stretched. A moan of pleasure escaped my lips as bubbles of gasses popped in my joints, and sore muscles worked themselves back into function. With a content smile, I looked the singular window, eternal blizzard straining against the glass, clawing and tearing at the walls trying to get in and freeze us all to death. Well, too bad, life. Maybe before coming to Chaldea, before being assigned the most important task of them all, I would've spent minutes silently staring into the snow storm. But now…

Now there was no need to waste my time on such trivial matters. I fondly looked at disarrayed papers surrounding my bed and smiled. Now everything was just peachy.

Picking up the pen and documents that already had my signature on them, I got to reading. To my surprise, it took much less time than I expected to sift through them. Nothing special or of particular interest, but it just went to show how much a little positive attitude could affect one's efficiency. Time spent on whining was time wasted, after all.

Soon, at least from my perspective, every report that required a signature had one. I swear to God. If only I had done this self-hypnosis thing earlier, homework would've been a breeze!

Quietly laughing to myself, I accurately placed the neatly stacked reports and requests besides the Magecraft books and resumed reading those instead. Hm, maybe I should've somehow improved my memory as well? Oh well, ideas for the future. So, so many ideas.

When the door to my room opened once more, I was in the middle of going through the second tome. This one discussed the main branches of modern Magecraft, such as Jewelcraft or Curses. A pretty fun read, overall, lots of interesting details that I wasn't aware of. For example, mana-infused jewels could apparently be installed into chimeras to boost their performance. No idea how that worked, but if chimeras could make use of such mana storages stuffed inside their flesh, maybe I could too? I mean, carrying gems all the time is fancy and all that, but hiding one somewhere within my small intestine was more effective. Primarily because it completely eliminated the need to hold them in my hand, thus reducing the time needed to activate whatever I would use them for.

Another cool tidbit was the nature of some Spiritual Evocation summons that-

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Romani's uncertain voice was carried through the room, stopping my internal monologue, "Just wanted to pick up the papers, it was sort of rude of me to dump the work on you while you were out of it. Just consider it a practical joke, I guess? Anyway, our resident know-it-all asked me to inform you about your rehabilitation. She came up with some new device that should allow you to walk around earlier than expected, which in turn means that I'll be able to discharge you sooner."

I nodded at him without lifting my eyes from the book. Just because I was paying attention to what he said, didn't mean that I had to give him _all_ of my focus. Time was of the essence, and a page read now was a book finished one page swifter.

"So… I'm just going to get these papers if you don't mind?" The orange pineapple in the corner of my drew closer and I heard the pages shuffling, "Swell. I, uh, know you need relaxation and all that, so I'm going to leave you to your rest now. Oh, and Mash should drop by with some lunch sometime later! I offered to get one of the less occupied staff members to do it, but she was rather insistent. Take care of her, would you?"

I nodded again, a smile blooming on my face. First a breakfast to bed, now lunch. I was a lucky man, wasn't I? Romani rambled for a few more minutes as I kept turning page after page. Eventually, the door clicked closed at the same time as I finished one of the last chapters. A couple more, and the second book was finished.

Suddenly, a small frown tugged at my lips as I noted how unusually cheerful I've been since waking up. Generally speaking, smiling was rather exhaustive for me as it required a constant conscious effort on my part, which meant my cheeks and lips got tired easily. Now, however, I felt nothing of the sort. Being able to smile freely was sure nice. I let out another grin at the thought. And I had a pretty good idea as to the reason…

Before I could reconsider my further action, I slammed my fist against the wall with as much force as I could muster, though being careful to avoid hitting any needles. The wall, and my arm, vibrated for a while before calming down. Throughout the whole ordeal, I didn't feel even the slighting inclination to flinch, or even twitch. Not a single spike of discomfort.

Amazing.

This time I laughed out loud. And what was not to laugh at? No sore necks, no burning muscles, not a single twinge of pain! My body felt perfect, every cell seemingly working in perfect unison with the rest. I knew I could run at my maximum speed for as long as I wanted, giving it my all the whole time. At least until I collapsed from exhaustion, but hey, in the future life or death situations such an ability was amazing.

I turned the tome to the last chapter, this one being a lead into the next book about Heroic Spirits, when my room was unsealed once more. In came Mash, carrying a tray with proper food this time, though something about her expression put me on edge. I raised my eyes from the manuscript in order to take in the full picture when, instead of sliding shut, the door was once again opened, this time by a metal gauntlet.

Relieved of my concerns, I sent both Mash and Cu a welcoming smile as I set aside the tome and picked up the offered nourishment.

"Feeling better, Master?" Cu was still wearing his armor, though Gae Bolg was nowhere to be seen, "I have to admit, you had me worried there for a second when you collapsed in the cafeteria. Sorry about that by the way, I wasn't expecting my Runes to provide such an effect on modern alcohol. The stuff was delicious though, can't deny that!"

He was about to lean on the door when opened for the third time, striking him squarely in the temple.

"Gah!" He swirled around pointed at the entering Medusa in accusation, "Watch where you're going, woman, I could've stumbled right into the Shielder girl!"

"Uhm, it's Mash. My name that is."

"You would've made for a poor Lancer if that were the case," came a cool response from the blindfolded gorgon, "I have heard that you Class takes pride in their Agility… Though not so much their Luck, so I guess anything can happen. Even a Lancer losing his balance."

"Right where it hurts, eh? I like it!" The ticked-off expression was replaced by an eager grin as Cu turned in my direction, "Do we have any arenas around here? I could use the cafeteria again, but I think Orange would sound the alarm if that were the case."

I chuckled at their antics and waved the Hound of Ireland down, "Relax, Cu, relax. I'm sure Rider here just feels uncomfortable in the new setting for the time being. Speaking of," I turned to face Medusa, "Sorry about not showing you your room earlier. I hope that was taken care of?"

"Yes. Shielder deemed her duty to show me my lodgings after you passed out," She vaguely waved in Mash's general direction. After some consideration, she added, "I am settling well."

"…It's Mash…"

"Good, good," I reached and patted Mash, who had already taken a seat at the edge of the bed, on the shoulder to provide some solace, "I trust the same goes for you, Cu?"

"Yeah, yeah, got my room and all," he scratched his chin, "Though I have to say, it's empty like the Land of the Dead after Mentor got frustrated with something. Real boring."

"Well, I'm sure we could pick something up from the Singularities we travel to," Good idea, by the way, I had to stock up on some trinkets myself, "Anyway, since the issue has been brought up at least twice now, I think proper introductions are of vital importance. As a Master," I subconsciously traced the crimson Command Seals with my fingers, "I think it's only fair I start. My name is Damien, acting, and only, Master of Chaldea Security Organization. It is an honor to make your acquaintance"

Man, that felt good to say out loud.

"Mash Kyrielight, Demi-Servant of the Shielder Class. It is a pleasure to meet you." She slightly bowed in greeting.

"Ehm, Cu Chulainn, I guess. Ireland's Child of Light. Does that work?" Cu was visibly confused by the entire procedure, but I appreciated the effort.

"Don't want to reveal your True Name?" I smiled knowingly, but seeing the slightest flinch, immediately dropped the expression, "Don't worry, you are among friends. And future family, I hope. I know it may seem childish, and probably mighty selfish of me, but one day I would love to see us all as one big family. Boy, that feels awkward to say."

I had to avert my eyes and look at the window just to avoid any gazes sent in my direction at the cheesiest line of them all. However…

"There is no need, nor time, to mince words under these circumstances, is there? With humanity being on the brink of extinction and all that," Taking a deep breath, I turned back and did my best to look as confident as I could while staring at my assembled Servants, "I'll just say it now to get it out of the system, then. I want all of Chaldea to become one big Family! There, done. Now you can stop looking at me like… like that."

Saying my part, I did the right thing and retreated into the safe fortress of my bedsheet covers. I could feel beads of sweat slowly trickling down my forehead and soaking into the pillows. And I wouldn't be surprised if they immediately evaporated after that, seeing how my face was currently on fire. With a muffled groan, I rolled up into a ball and prepared to weather an onslaught of laughter, something that would've surely followed had I still been back in my own world.

"Oh man, I know we've already been through this, but that did sound cheap as hell! I mean, really, don't you know what happened to my last family member?" A boisterous laugh followed right after, "Regardless, I thought I've already told you that I was fine with being battle-brothers or something? Of course, I'd have to whip you into shape a bit first, but I'm no Mentor, so consider yourself lucky!"

"Indeed, Senpai. While I would've worded it differently, we have already agreed to be Family, didn't we?" Mash soft voice was accompanied by slight pressure descending onto my wrapped up shoulder, "I'm… still not sure what it entails, but I'll try my best!"

That… wasn't nearly what I expected. Sneers, mocking laughter, snide remarks… Well, maybe not from Mash, but still. But this, this was different. Yes, I could live with this. My new family. It was kind of funny, if I were to be honest. I've always tried to purge thought of social needs from my mind, telling myself that I would be content with just playing video games and studying biology. But here I am, trapped in a classic shonen moment instigated by none other than yours truly. Looks how the tables have turned.

And all it took was but a single adventure through a shadow of Hell itself.

"I…" I croaked out through my suddenly hoarse throat, "Am too embarrassed to turn around. But thank you. Thank you so very very much. Could we… continue this at a later date? I, uh, have some books I need to read. Urgently."

"…Medusa," A whisper so quiet I barely heard it instantly silence all other noise in the room, "My True Name is Medusa. I… hope I can be of use."

Now, I've already been aware that Rider was Medusa. And hearing it changed almost nothing. But. What it did do was give me a realization, a sense of enlightenment. Right now. Not two meters away from me. Stood _Medusa_. Medusa the Gorgon. The one present in basically anything that had even the slightest connection to Greek mythology. That Medusa.

I didn't even need to fake my reaction.

My covers flew up, some odd tubes being ripped out of my skin due to the sudden motion. Obviously, I felt no pain or discomfort from it. The sight of a flying piece of cloth interrupted both Mash and Cu who were sending questions Medusa's way with clear looks of curiosity on their faces. Before the bedsheets could touch the ground again, I was already right in front of the startled Rider, with my hands firmly locking her shoulders in place. Of course, I was well aware that, from her perspective, I provided no more resistance than air did, but it was the thought that counted.

There was only one thing I could say at that point.

"Tell me," Despite my usual aversion to breaching private space, my face moved in so close I could feel a rogue strand of her hair tickle the tip of my nose. Naturally, I ignored it, "Tell me eeeveeeryyyyythiiiing."

"…"

**"As much as I'm enjoying the moment, I'm afraid we have an urgent matter on our hands!"** Da Vinci's voice echoed across the entire complex, ringing from every hallway. Not a moment later alarms picked up, their wailing accompanied by flashing red light that I could see through the crack between the door and the doorway, **"So wrap up your admittedly entertaining drama, and meet in the Command Room."**

What a wonderful opportunity. Would be a shame if I wasted it.

An opportunity to help save humanity that, nothing else.

Surely.

"Would you look at that, it seems we need to go!" I let go of Medusa and hopped up on my feet, wrapping myself in the bedsheets in the process. I was still covered in bandages, true, but otherwise I was basically naked. A miscalculation on my part, "Alright, everyone out, I need to get ready!"

Fortunately, the Servants were either too shocked to react, or simply didn't care in Cu's case, and allowed me to push them out of my room. Firmly closing the door and ripping out whatever determined needles still remained attached to me, I looked around the room to find anything resembling clothes. After several minutes of panicked searching, I came out empty. Fortunately, Da Vinci was on the case.

**"Oh, I forgot to mention. Damien, run by your Room on the way here, I made a little something that should be of use."**

Seeing no other choice, I left my former lodging protected exclusively by oversized Band-Aids and a make-shift cloak and ran into the hallway. At least I've finally found out that I hadn't been in My Room all this time. I'd prefer to at least have a wardrobe, to be honest. Briefly stopping to ask for directions from a passing –more like running- by staff, I made it to My Room. Surprisingly, It was the same as by rehabilitation room aside from a, hip-hip-hooray, wardrobe.

Since there was nothing else of interest, I threw the wardrobe doors open and saw rows upon rows of standard Chaldea Master Uniform. Except not quite. Not that I have properly unlocked my Magical Circuits, I could see glowing lines of vibrant colors weaved into the fabric of the uniform. According to the Magecraft primers, this was my 'mana sense' manifesting itself. It usually mimicked one of the basic five senses, and mine decided to be sight, as it seemed. Can't say I was against it, eye powers were a classic, even in Nasuverse. Or maybe even 'especially' in Nasuverse.

Anyway. I hastily garbed myself in my first Mystic Code, absentmindedly noting the knowledge that seeped into me the moment I put on the set of clothes. Three moderately simple mysteries, all familiar to me from the game: First Aid, Instant Enhancement, and Emergency Evade. Minor heal, power boost, and displacement spells respectively. Simple, but nonetheless effective.

I burst into the Command Room with a loud bang, alerting everyone present of my arrival. Which was literally everyone, as all of my Servants, Mash, Da Vinci, Romani, and all of the staff were currently at work, doing some thing or other. Upon my entrance, The Servants stood at what could be considered attention, all clad in the battle gear. Unsurprisingly, I had to apply conscious effort to keep my eyes away from Mash and Medusa, which was made easier by the fact that I wasn't looking at them in the first place. I just knew what to expect.

"What's the situation?" I tried to sound professional, but I had no idea how well it worked as everyone was just too busy to notice.

"Ah, there you are, Damien!" Romani hurried from his position at the biggest computer to me, Da Vinci walking after him step to step, "I'm sorry to break it to you, but we've located the First of out Seven Singularities. I really don't want to send you there in your current state, me being a doctor and all, but…"

He paused, and I could see a frown tugging at Da Vinci's lips.

"Romani…" The man in question whirled to stare at the Italian genius.

"It's his choice, all right?!" The doctor turned back to me with a clearly uncomfortable, and yet determined look in his eyes, "Look, with how injured you are right now, I'm sure we could move the deployment a bit. Sure, we don't know how precious time is, only that it is pretty valuable, but hurrying up isn't worth your death. Da Vinci here is ready to send you on your way with but a word of confirmation, but I really want you to give this some thought, okay? Yeah, humanity's chance of survival decreases with every second wasted, and still don't have any idea as to what is going on, but-"

"Wow. You are _really_ bad at this," A chuckle tore out of my suddenly dry throat, but I still managed to smile at the Good Doctor, "But I appreciate the thought. Have no worries, Romani, I'm as ready as I'll ever be! Well, maybe not really, but, as you've just said, time is of the essence."

"Da Vinci," I turned to the resident genius, leaving Romani with a blank look on his face, "Send us out."

"Aye-aye, Master!" She elbowed the spacing out Roman and typed something on the hologram console that emerged from her wrist. In response, two coffins rose up from the dark blue liquid sloshing under the glass floor, finally stilling at about my height. Made sense, since Mash was way shorter than my one eighty-three centimeters. Waaaay shorter.

I turned to my other two Servants, receiving an eager nod from Cu, and a slight head bow from Medusa. Grinning back, I hopped into one of the coffins and adjusted my position to be more comfortable.

**"We'll Rayshift the Servants after you. Unlike Mash, full-on Heroic Spirits don't need a coffin to Rayshift, so we can port them in and out of the Singularity as many time as we want,"** Da Vinci's voice resounded from the dynamic inside the pod, **"However, do keep in mind that you can support only so many Servants at the same time. I suggest looking into team composition in the future. You know, when you form contracts with more Servants."**

A clear panel started to rise from the bottom of the pod with a mechanical buzz. As I watched my Servants being instructed by Da Vinci in person, I glanced at Mash only to see purple eyes meet mine. Smiling, I couldn't help but proclaim before the panel completely shut me off from the outside world.

"See you on the other side!"

That would've been the end of it, but, as my world was being consumed by a vortex of blue and black, two distinct voices managed to erupt from the speaker at the same time.

**"Oh yeah, the Singularity is located in France during the Hundred Years War. Hope you didn't slack off in your foreign language classes at school!"**

**"W-wait, hold up! You can't Rayshift now, I had an awesome speech prepared to send you off! Da Vinci, dammit, it's all your fault! Stop ruining my moments!"**

Smirking in exasperation, I passed out.

**Author's Notes: And there you have it, folks, everything I've written up so far. The next chapter isn't scheduled for tomorrow, but for whenever I'm done with it. Hope you've enjoyed the ride so far!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: Bam, Chapter 7, straight out of the mental oven! Enjoy your treat~**

Chapter 7.

I opened my eyes to a thing of beauty. An open meadow, full of emerald grass that shook under the gentle breeze. Fluffy clouds whiter than any snow lazily drifted up in the sky. The soft winds that weaved around the small hills playfully brushed against my face and caressed my hair. Pretty sure they somehow even licked the recuperating flesh underneath the bandages.

I looked around in awe, dutifully committing to memory the breathtaking sight. This place was not unlike the clearing from the virtual tutorial, or whatever that was, except it wasn't just a simulation this time.

I crouched down and sank my hand into the sea of grass, marveling at its softness. It felt like liquid or jelly at least.

"Senpai?" A voice right beside interrupted my musings. I looked up to see Mash, already in her combat gear, staring down on me with evident curiosity in her violet eyes.

"Oh, don't mind me. It's just, out there in the modern world, places like this are a rarity. You might be able to find them somewhere in Norway, or Ireland perhaps, but never near any major cities," I groaned quietly as I got up, a sigh escaping my lips when I stood up straight, "Well, I guess you could add New Zealand to that list, Lord of the Rings had some absolutely beautiful terrains. Or what Hobbit? Bah, whatever, can't seem to remember right now. In any case, yeah, this is just as new for me as it is for you."

"Really? I thought the world was full of places like this," Was it just me or did she look a bit disappointed? Oh, right, Designer Baby that never left Chaldea, that makes sense, "Wondrous sights that make you want to enjoy them for hours and hours. I've heard stories about how beautiful the world is, but Lord Marisbury Animusphere, Lady Olga's father, prohibited me from going outside."

Hearing that out loud makes me sad. I turned to her and flashed the best supportive grin I could muster, "For someone who's never left home, you turned out surprisingly well. Makes one think," Seeing a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, I whirled around and stared at the green sea, "I have to say, I'd prefer staying at home all day to going outside any day of the week. I mean really, for an average citizen like yours truly, the outside world was bleak, polluted, and full of cold uncaring concrete."

I looked back at her and smiled bitterly at the surprised expression. Walking up right beside her, I put one hand on her shoulder and pointed with the other at the meadow.

"You see, all this? All this is something you'd likely never see if you were to live in the modern world. The roiling grass and the mighty trees, the fresh crisp air and soft soil… All you'd witness would be titans of glass and concrete, stuffed with plastic and a general feeling of desperation and purposelessness. I might be biased but, as an 'honorary' citizen of Earth, let me tell you: the world is not a pretty place. This, on the other hand. This is amazing. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. The only reason you'd want to change this scenery for an urban city is to appreciate just how much modern life sucks."

After giving that doubtlessly inspiring speech, I twisted my neck to look at Mash, brushing against her hair with the tip of my nose in the process. After a second of rebooting my brain, I realized just how _close_ we've been standing. Her only visible eye was mere centimeters from my own, shaking slightly while staring somewhere in the distance. Her breaths were short and rapid, perfectly matching the frantic beating of my own heart.

Sensing the volatile potential of the situation, I took great care in not making any sudden movements. I unwound my fingers from her shoulder and leaned away from her like nothing happened, ignoring the traitorous crimson creeping up my neck.

"…so yeah, e-even if we are to restore humanity, I suggest focusing on the world around you right now. Cause when we get to the modern one? You will be disappointed."

Mentally cursing my cracking voice, I desperately searched for any distractions from the awkward moment. To my great relief, a burst of blue light not two meters away from me announced the arrival of my other two Servants, Cu and Medusa phasing into existence surrounded by a halo of energy.

Rider motionlessly stood where she appeared, while Lancer glanced around the meadow, probably searching for any dangers or points of interest. Though something told me Medusa was doing the very same, just through different means. Probably the way her nose twitched as if trying to catch some peculiar scent. It was kind of adorable, really.

I clapped my hands once to get the Servants' attention. "Alright, team! Da Vinci told me… Or rather 'almost forgot to tell me,' that we're in France during the Hundred Years War. Now, you being who you are and me being terrible at history, our only sources of info are probably Mash and Chaldea. Does anyone want to disapprove that statement?"

"Nope, you're right. I've been to Scotland, for obvious reasons, but otherwise, I stuck to Ireland." Cu scratched the back of his head with a metal gauntlet, his ponytail jumping up and down with the motion, "Gotta say, this is one pretty place. Had some similar views back home but, unfortunately, no chance to enjoy them. And the rest got quickly… stained, for lack of a better world."

"Indeed, due to certain events, I was forced to remain in one place for the entirety of my life. I'm sure you can guess them," Medusa paused, before a small smirk appeared on her face, "Even without me telling you 'eeeveeryyythiiing.'"

I winced at the jab, but smiled shortly after, "Now that's just mean is what that is. At least you're warming up to us. The first time I met you, you were rather… cold-blooded. Badum-tsssss."

In a sudden zone of deathly silence, the bones popping in Cu's neck as he turned his face towards me were like claps of thunder. My snickering wilted a bit under the pressure of his cold crimson eyes as he grinned.

"That… was actually a good one," Despite his words, his voice sounded distant, "I'm sure Fergus would just _love_ to meet you."

"Thanks, I guess?" I wasn't sure if he appreciated the joke or not, so I glanced at Medusa instead. That was a mistake.

She was smiling at me, except not really. Instead of what one could call a smile, it was like her mouth was stretched out somehow, plunging it straight into the uncanny valley. Creepy. Fake-coughing into my fist, I hastily turned away from her and looked at Mash.

"Mash?" She was still facing the direction I pointed at, her back facing the rest of us, "Mash? Hello, Earth to Mash, anybody home? Hmm."

I walked up to her and, seeing the unchanged blank look in her eyes, waved my hand in front of her face. Alright, I didn't like this one bit. Humor slowly bled into worry as I tried to get her attention to no avail. After wasting a few minutes with no visible progress made, I realized that there was only one thing left to do.

"Rider, hit me." The one good way to wake up a _Shielder_ was to be attacked, right? And I didn't want to get slapped by a demigod of all things, so the youngest gorgon was clearly the… better… option.

"On second thought-"

I saw the sky. My neck forcibly twisted to the side with seemingly no reason, the ground cut right from underneath my feet. Before my brain could process what happened, I hit the grass bed with an audible thud, staring blankly at the clear- Oh _Holy-_

"-_Shit!_" A second later a shadow fell on my face, as Mas suddenly stood her ground right between me and, assumingly, Medusa. And, while this was _definitely_ an interesting perspective to see from, highly entertaining too, I had better things to worry about.

Like that giant fucking hole in the sky.

Right above our little group, the sky was ripped apart. Clouds swam through the air before being evaporated from existence when approaching the giant ring of light. Brighter than the Sun. Bigger than the moon. And through it, I saw space.

At first, I didn't believe it. After all, there was no way that pitch black expanse was space, space had _things_ in it. This one didn't. It was just… black. But then I understood. There were no stars.

Just like that, no stars. Nothing. As if someone discovered dust on their new black shoes and wiped it off. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I told myself that there was no reason to panic. We were in a Singularity located in France after all, so, if nothing but France existed around us right now, then why should other stars and planets exist? But, seeing something so out of the norm, so utterly alien… It was scary.

A hand shook my shoulder and I lowered my gaze. Mash was crouching right next to me, hurriedly letting go of me once I shifted my attention to her. Cu and Medusa stood on my other side, silently watching the exchange. Without saying a word, I pointed at the sky.

"What the-"

"S-Senpai…?"

"What is that thing?"

"Heeeeey there, we're finally through!" Romani's chirpy voice echoed in the otherwise silent meadow, "So yeah, our first official Singularity, the one you're in right now, is located in France 1431, during the Hundred Years War. I believe France and England should have a brief ceasefire right about now and- hold on, Da Vinci, not now- the famous Saint, Joan of Arc, was just burned to death. Hm, that came out morbid. Anyway, the- h-hey, what are you doing?! I'm giving a briefing here and I will not let you steal another speech from me!- The objective is the same, locate the source of the Singularity and eliminate it! It's probably going to beanothergrailhurryupandgoodluck!"

Inaudible chatter could be heard from the connection, a single distinctly Da-Vincian voice sounding more angry than usual. Or ever, for that matter. Mash, still crouching, pressed a few spots on her shield without looking down at it. I mentally shook my head in respect. Even though I could do the same with a QWERTY keyboard, that took some skill.

The chatter stopped.

"Mama mia… What the hell is that?!" Romani was talking once again but this time his words were laced with shock and bewilderment, "Hang on, we're on it. You've got the visual, get me some data! Frank, check the spiritron readings. Albert, monitor the vital, tell me if that thing is affecting _anything_ in _any way_, got it? Da Vinci, analysis!"

"Hm, from what I can tell, that is a circle of light. The energy contained there is pretty mindboggling, honestly. I mean planet cracking levels of mindboggling. And considering that's most likely True Magic, or close to it, there can be countless additional effects and properties. In other words, if that thing goes off, whatever that is, we're done for."

"Right.." Dr. Roman's voice came out tired but determined, "You guys take care of the Singularity, we'll deal with that thing. Try and get more data, probably. If anything comes up, you know we're here. Take care and good luck. Chaldea, signing off."

"So," I slowly started, "Let's just ignore that thing for now, yeah? We have a world to save, no time for… that."

I shakily stood up, Mash mirroring my movements, and exhaled. Alright, I've got this.

"As I was saying, only Mash and Chaldea are our sources of historical information for this time period. We've just heard some stuff from the Doctor, so I'd say we're good for now. Mash, how familiar are you with this time period, just in case?"

"I've, uhm, read through Chaldea's archives during my free time," She was clearly shaken after seeing the hole in the sky but was doing her best to reclaim her composure, "So I know some things. Hopefully, I will be able to help."

"You're a Servant, Mash, there's no way you could be useless," I patted her shoulder, "And with Chaldea busy dealing with that thing up there, it is up to you to act as our guide to this land of pasta and guillotines."

"Pasta is an Italian stereotype, Senpai, not French," Her face scrunched up in doubt, "That's what I read, at least."

"Tomayto tomahto," I waved it off and looked around one more time trying to spot anything of interest. The first clue to our destination, so to speak, "We have much more pressing concerns at the moment. Have comfortable are you guys with scouts?"

"Not really my thing, but I'll manage," Cu shrugged, "Hopefully run into some trouble, as it is."

"At least contact me if that's the case, alright?" I turned to Medusa, "What about you?"

"If that's what you want." Came the neutral response.

"Hm," Have to admit, such low emotional investment slightly hurt. But Heroic Spirits be Heroic Spirits, everyone is unique and has their own kinks to work through, "Okay then. Same directives, just check the surrounding for anything interesting. Like a castle, for example. Or an army."

"How about an armed squad?" Cu's voice interrupted my voice, "Not an army for sure but they're still coming our way."

As I looked in the direction he was pointing at, I indeed saw a group of armed and armored people heading towards us. I'd say they were wearing classic French gear of this period, except I had absolutely no idea how 'classic' gear was supposed to look like. They were garbed in chainmail with something warm-looking draped above and funny metal hats that looked like hybrids between a fedora and a bowl. Surprisingly, their faces weren't protected, definitely not by those tiny chainmail collars.

The spears and swords they clutched in their gloved arms were pointed at our feet as they warily approached us, swordsmen hiding behind shields with various symbols on them. Mostly vines, I think.

They stopped several meters away from us, eyes hidden in the helmets' shadows twitching at our every move. From an outside perspective, the fight probably looked inevitable. I was a bit anxious, adrenaline and all that, but not that worried. While the French were still on their way, Mash moved right in between us, with Medusa and Cu taking positions to the left and right of me.

"Qui es tu?! Identifiez vous!" The one at the front suddenly shouted, startling me. Man, I haven't heard French in a while.

Lifting up one hand, I smiled and took a step forward.

"Don't worry, I've got this. I've spent around three years studying French," I cleared my throat with a cough and stared the apparent leader right in the eyes, "Bonjour! Je m'appele Damien!" _(Good evening! My name is Damien!)_

Aaaand that's all French I could remember. Dammit, I should've thought this through. The silence was starting to get uncomfortable and I could feel tiny beads of sweat form around my neck. Fighting was fine, I had Servants on my side. But this… Shitshitshit, never again! Blasted spotlight, why did I volunteer in the first place?! Muffled snicker tore through the haze of my panic but when I turned to look, Cu was innocently whistling while taking great care in surveilling the surrounding fields for danger.

"Excuse moi," I spun back to face the soldiers, "Ubi est urbis?" _(Excuse me; Where is the city?)_

Wait a second… Was that French or Latin? Bah, whatever, they were similar anyway. I'm sure they know Latin, they're French!

"Ego et mei amici in silva erramus. Ubi est urbis?" _(My friends and I wander in the forest. Where is the city?)_

Judging by the confused stares of the French, they did not, in fact, know Latin. Oh well.

"Alright, I'm done here. Seems like these folks don't know their own language. Er, a language so close to their own it practically is, that is." I shook my head at the shameful display and aired my thoughts, "For shame."

That was the wrong thing to do, it seemed, as the weapons flew upwards to point at our faces, while the soldiers screamed something about 'English' and 'hostiles,' or something. I can see why they're just footsoldiers though, these guys would make for terrible diplomats.

"I should've just talked to them in French," I heard Mash mutter under breath before she raised her shield and glanced back at me, "Looks like the fight is unavoidable. Servant Shielder, awaiting orders!"

"Yeah, I can see your point," I scratched my cheek and began to empty my thoughts in an attempt to activate my Magical Circuits. The Mystic Code spells could come in handy, at least as a test, "Welp, here's the trouble you asked for, Lancer. Give 'em hell!"

"…Non-lethally, of course," I added as an afterthought. Gotta start earning those sweet Hero Points one day, so why not now?

The lead soldier's order, probably 'attack' but what do I know, was interrupted by the butt of a crimson spear smashing into, and through, his teeth. I winced at the sight, phantom pains wrecking across my jaw. I would _not_ want to be in that guy's place, that's for sure. As I massaged my lips to settle the nerves, the poor man collapsed screaming which distracted the rest just for long enough for Medusa to sweep in and take names.

The rattling of chains could be heard from every point in space as the battlefield was suddenly filled with linked metal. A blur of purple streaked from man to man, tearing weapons from their hands, knocking them off-balance, and then driving holes through their hands or feet. Though brutal, I approved of the last action, as that meant they either couldn't run or couldn't fight, effectively halving their numbers. If the survivors were to try fleeing, catching only half would be easier than the whole squad. Same with fighting back. Say what you want but Medusa was a good fighter, if not a good warrior.

Mash fought much more conservatively, never straying too far away from me and always keeping distance between my vulnerable fleshy body and the sharp pointy tips and edges of the enemies' weapons. Anyone who got beyond the line she had drawn inside her mind was met with a wall of metal moving at superhuman speeds right in their face. Needless to say, I was rather surprised that this tactic was actually non-lethal. Now, I've never been seriously injured in my entire life, aside from a few head traumas during my infancy, but I was convinced that my skull would cave in should I get hit with something of that caliber.

I was so enraptured with watching my Servants fight that I completely forgot about my Mystic Code. I only realized that after the soldiers were already lying on the ground groaning, crying, or just plain passed out. Looking around the battlefield, I remembered that I was unable to spot Cu during the fight but, after thinking about it, he was probably too fast for me to notice in the brawl. Slaughter, rather. Slaughter not dangerous to one's life?

Regardless, watching Cu knee the last standing Frenchman in the stomach and the crack that could be heard afterward would probably haunt me for the next several days. Or not, considering how I've witnessed Medusa's 'garden' first hand. I was _not_ looking forward to those nightmares. Hopefully, there won't be any, but…

"Whew, alright!" I exclaimed, rubbing my hands together, "Now we get to the interrogation part! Since these fine folk didn't want to tell us where the city is before, we'll have find out now ourselves. Their loss, I guess, should've have attacked for no reason. Pick your fight, people, I swear…"

"Senpai?" Mash called me out from nearby, pointing at one of the still-conscious soldiers, "I think they attacked because you were speaking English. We arrived during the Hundred Years War, after all, there has to be some animosity between the two countries."

"Nonsense, I was speaking French and a bit of Latin," I crouched down beside the gasping man, lightly slapping him on the cheeks to get his attention. In the back of my mind, I was mildly alarmed by the absence of my usual dislike for blood which should've raised its head due to the copious amounts of said liquid splattered everywhere, courtesy of (mostly) Medusa, but I'd just be wasting precious time if that were the case. And Sloth was a sin.

"Is something funny?" Cu asked as he approached, making me realize that I was quietly chuckling to myself, "You're not freaking out or anything, right? I know the sight of battle could be difficult to handle for the newbies but, considering what you've already been through-"

"No, don't worry everything's fine," I finally got the Frenchman's attention and smiled down at him, "Now, Mash, if you would be so kind?"

I stood up as Mash took my place and started speaking in French to the wounded soldier. I wasn't really worried about her as, A, she was a Servant, and, B, that hole in his right hand looked _nasty_.

I rolled my shoulders and listened to the satisfying popping sounds when I noticed Medusa coming towards me. I turned to her and raised an eyebrow, tracing the patterns of her blindfold with my eyes.

"The girl was right," She spoke with a hint of amusement hidden within her voice, "Speaking English in front of the French military was not the brightest idea."

"But when did I even- Oh," Everything I've said that wasn't directed at the soldiers was in English, wasn't it? I winced, "Ouch. Yeah, I should just leave the talking to you guys. I'd much prefer your company over their anyway."

"Oh?" Now there was something else in her tone, something new, "Was that a compliment?"

"Compliment?" I tilted my head in confusion, "I guess… I mean, I would much rather interact with you Heroic Spirits than normal people. Ehm, Romani, and Chaldean staff not included. What I'm saying is, what do they have to tell? They're normal people, same as me. Living normal lives, having normal hobbies. Boring. Even if I wanted to know something about French or France specifically, I'd just find a French Hero to talk to."

Judging by the visible part of her expression, I threw off whatever she was thinking in the first place but she still looked interested in the topic, so I continued.

"Look at you, for example. Good or bad, but can you really say that these people's lives are more exciting than yours?"

Her body froze in place, alarming me that I might've hit the wrong spot. Fortunately, instead of coldly staring at me, she answered in a monotone.

"Sometimes having a normal life is everything one could wish for, Master. Do not take it for granted." Sad but not surprising. With a shake of my head, I sat down and patted the ground near me. For a second, it looked as if her train of thought was interrupted by something but eventually she took a seat.

"Let me put it like this. And I'm sorry if I hit anything _too_ personal but please bear with me. As a Master, I have to ensure I understand my Servants completely and the same goes in the other direction. Anyway, imagine if on that one day, nothing happened. You were let go with not a notch on your dignity and allowed to continue living your life. I'm not sure whether you were a princess or someone else but I do remember that you had a relatively normal life. Now, if that were the case and you lived, maybe happily maybe not, and then died, maybe happily maybe not, what would you be worth?"

"Worth?"

"Yes, who would you be? Not in terms of occupation or name, no, who would _you_ be? What would your purpose be? Would you have had a goal in life? Would it have been any good? Settling down with a family or becoming a priestess, perhaps. Do those really strike your fancy?"

"Anything would be better than what happened," The was a wild brew of anger and sadness in her voice, "And if you can say otherwise then you know nothing about me."

"Tell me this, then. Just confirm or deny, no need to open your heart before you're comfortable with it. Do you, consider yourself a monster?"

"Yes."

"What a marvelous answer. Did you hear yourself just now?" I gently smiled and lifted up my arm to shake my finger at her, "No hesitation, no doubt. You know what you are, and whether it is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. But the fact that you can _define_ yourself is one of the reasons I love you. Heroic Spirits, that is. You see, deep beneath everything else, and I have virtually no idea why I'm saying this right now, I am envious. I envy your resolve, I envy your dedication, I envy your confidence in who you are. Out there in the big world, with no tragic backstory or extraordinary talents to distinguish you, you are a nobody. _I_ am a nobody. But you are not. Lancer is not. Mash is not. Da Vinci is not. Something happened to you, something that helped you define yourself, made you who you are. Cherish that memory. Good or bad, noble or evil, it is still something that makes you who you are. Don't be ashamed of that. Don't be resentful. If you are a monster and you want to be a monster, then let your heart sing! Build a lair, slaughter a village, kidnap a princess, for Christ's sake! And if you are a noble knight then hold true to your morals, never let an innocent suffer, and dispense Justice at your heart's content."

My throat was so tightly wound at this point it was hurting to talk at all. The corners of my eyes stung for some reason, but stubbornly drilled Medusa's blindfold with my gaze. I will not allow any of my Servants to be resentful of themselves, it was outrageous. At some point, I started to drive my finger between her concealed eyes with every sentence, first too carried away to notice then too passionate to stop.

"You said I shouldn't take my normal life for granted. Well, you shouldn't take yours. You a Hero, whether you want it or not. You are Great. Your sisters are Great. You all are Legends, Rider, _Legends_. I heard people cry during a stage play of your life. I've seen more iterations of you with varying backstories than I can count. Don't be ashamed of yourself, be proud! Be proud of everything you stand for because people like you… People like you make people like me look up in awe and 'I want to be just like that.'"

I finally went silent. My mouth was dry as a desert, and the back of my throat felt mutilated by a swarm of bloodthirsty animated needles. With hooks and spikes. I exhaled to get some of the pressure out and lowered my eyes. The formerly pristine grass was now painted with red, thin stalks brushing against each other in a mesmerizing dance of crimson. Then a realization shot through my body like a lightning bolt.

"D-Did… Did I just monologue?" This was completely uncharacteristic of me, to put it mildly. Despite what the song of my soul that I voiced for the whole world to hear a few seconds ago said, I could define _some_ parts of myself. One of those being 'keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself.' "So why did I?"

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I sprung up, ignoring the Medusa's frozen body posture and the groan of a wounded man I've been sitting on, and dashed forward. Quickly getting to Mash, and Cu who apparently joined her while I was 'distracted,' I hurriedly spoke.

"Did you get the city's location?"

"Yes, Senpai," She looked up and her face morphed into a grimace of worry, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes-yes, I just need to do something real quick," I turned to Cu, "Scour the surroundings while I meditate, would you? Take Rider too, if she's up for it."

Without waiting for their response, I rushed away from the battlefield and stopped only when I found myself at its very edge. Taking a deep breath, I sat dropped down on the unblemished grass and closed my eyes.

White void, white void…

I opened my eyes to the empty prairie once again. No sound, no motion, only serenity. The alarm that caused me to visit this 'mindscape' of mine in the first place stood out like a mountain in the middle of the ocean.

However, something else was different too. Right in front of me, three black pillars that barely reached my chest erupted from the ground. There wasn't anything particularly notable about them, three simple blotches of tar, but from their foundations a web of fissures spread in every direction.

I could instinctively tell that these three were the effects of self-hypnosis I've put myself under, while the cracks were the effects of those effects. And the more I looked at them the more I realized that instead of breaking my mindscape, they were holding it together. Same color as the columns they originated from, upon closer look, they seemed to be less 'holes in the world around me' and more 'glue repairing the damage done.'

I carefully approached one of them and touched it with the tip of my finger.

**MAGIC IS REAL.**

Yeah, there was no mistaking it now, this was of my own doing. My legs gave out from under me and I sprawled over the empty void. I was so tired. Of all this stress, this fighting. I still dearly wanted my adventure but…

Suddenly, one of the three pillars pulsed and a shudder ran through this entire world. Like the last droplet of water during the high noon in a desert, the exhaustion, both physical and mental, left my body. I just couldn't feel it anymore. Blinking in confusion –and relief– I got to my feet.

**FORGO SLOTH.**

Yeah, this thing. Bloody useful, despite being pretty terrifying. Also that speech earlier. Now I understood that it was this command talking. Disclosing your opinion was a big no-no for me during my 'normal' life, one wrong word and I was detained from life. 'You offended these people, those people, my four-year-old son, and also my unborn daughter.' 'You're a terrible human being, you should ashamed of yourself.' Being labeled a psychopath was never far out of reach because that's just what people do these days.

But then, at that very moment when Medusa showed honest to God _interest_ in what I thought… I guess I just couldn't help myself. And now, looking at this column of reality corruption, I realized that keeping silent at that moment, not developing the relationship between a Master and a Servant… That would've been a slothful thing to do. A waste of potential. A missed opportunity.

I looked at the three pillars again but this time in a new light. I was worried I was endangering my sense of self, that I was losing who I was. Something I didn't have a lot of in the first place. But that wasn't the case. Self-hypnosis wasn't making me different.

It was making me _better_.

And maybe, just maybe, if I could mold myself into the perfect Hero for my Servants, someone who was actually capable of saving humanity, I could find my worth. After all, why let others define you when you can do it yourself?

I smiled and thought over this day so far. What I did right, what I did wrong, my flaws and my strengths. Nothing really came to mind, except for that bit of absolute embarrassment when I tried 'negotiating.' But, if I wanted to correct that fault, what would I do? I couldn't just say something like Have No Fear. Well, I could, but that would be a bad idea.

Unable to come up with anything, I shrugged and focused on returning to the real world. The pearly expanse was replaced by an emerald sea, with Mash nervously pacing not two meters away from me. The moment she noticed me looking at her, relief bloomed on her face and she made her way to me.

"Senpai!" She dropped on the grass with her legs tucked beneath her and smiled, "Are you okay now? You looked disturbed, I was worried."

"Yes, thank you, Mash," I smiled back and stretched, feeling all my worries flee from my body, "Better than ever I'd even say. Have Rider and Lancer returned from their surveillance trip?"

"Just a few minutes ago, Senpai. They have confirmed what the soldier said to me, there's a castle nearby. Vaucouleurs, I believe it is called."

"Great. Gather the Team, if you would," I got up at the same time with Mash and hopped a few times on the spot to reignite the muscles, "We're heading out."

Everyone was gathered within a minute or two. Cu stood to the side with a massive grin on his face, Gae Bolg barely contained between his fingers. The spear felt alive as it was twirled all around the place, singing hymns to bloodshed as it tore through the air. Medusa was visibly shaken after our conversation, fists wound on themselves till they got white as snow, even though her face didn't show much emotion. She didn't indicate that she saw me looking at her, but I smiled encouragingly anyway.

Mash was, as usual, by my side, looking almost as excited as Cu though for entirely different reasons. Outside of Fuyuki, this was probably her first proper time outside, and in such a beautiful place at that. I gave her a pat on the back, armor of course, and pointed with my hand deeper into the fields.

"Off we go!"

An elegant hand garbed in black and purple armor reached from outside my field of vision, took hold of my arm and pushed it to the left.

"That way, Senpai. The castle is that way."

"Oh of course it is. Off we go then!"

"Ehm, also…"

"What now?"

"What about the soldiers?" What soldiers? I looked at Mash and she pointed behind us, where the French squad was lying broken in pools of their own teeth and blood.

"Oh, those soldiers," What _could_ we do about them? "Okay, alright. What to do, what to do. We can't exactly drag them with us, now can we. Let's see now… Oh, I've got an idea! Rider, can you un-stone people?"

Medusa twitch, clearly not expecting being addressed but looked at me anyway. Her forehead scrunched up a bit as she pondered on my words.

"I don't think so, no? Why would-?"

"Never mind then, there would be no difference between that and just killing them in that is the case," I scratched the back of my head in thought, "Hey, Doctor? How big a historical difference can we make here, outside of the whole 'saving humanity' shtick?"

"Nothing major, really," The second I called him, the hologram popped up right in front of me, a cone of light originating from Mash's shield, "History tends to correct itself, so whatever happens in the Singularity, stays in the Singularity. Aside from saving humanity, of course."

"Okay, great. Also, can you ask Da Vinci to cook up some sort of a translator for us? It appears I've been slacking during my French classes, so…"

"Sure thing, I'll ask her. Anything else? Cause that thing up there is at least the size of North America, and we _really_ don't want it coming down on us for whatever reason."

"North America, is it? Could've sworn it's bigger," I muttered, "Not really, no. I guess we'll just-"

Just as I was about to finish, a gale of wind swept past us, almost knocking me off my feet. Well, technically it did, but Mash managed to catch me in time, so it didn't count. When I looked up, I saw a shadow dig into one of the clouds and then burst out of its other side. A distinctly bird-shaped shadow. Except bigger. _Much_ bigger.

And then another one.

Before my very eyes, the skies were filled with those shadows, each rapidly heading in the direction where I was still pointing at. The air was filled with the roar of the winds and the rustling of the leaves, trees actually bending before the element's force.

When the last creature flew past us and I recovered from the shock of seeing what I think I just saw, I realized that this was a wonderful opportunity to finish my sentence. With a few alterations, that is.

"Change of plans, we're leaving the soldiers here. If they die, it'll be sad but not disastrous. But if those things are heading where I think they're heading, then letting a city be wiped off the face of the maps is not on my to-do list," I stated with as much confidence as I could before adding under my breath, "Not yet at least."

No one showed any sign of hearing that last part, so I just rolled with it.

"Onwards!" Then, "Mash, do you mind?"

Just as Cu and Medusa dashed after the flying beasties, I was swept off my feet and propelled forwards with frankly supernatural speeds, courtesy of Kyrielight Express. Absentmindedly, I noted that this was indeed a comfortable way of transportation. I wonder if Asterios or Heracles Express would be any comfier. Oh well, nothing I can't find out later.

Hills and trees blurred around me as we began to close the distance between us and what I suspected were wyverns. Eventually, Vaucouleurs revealed itself before us in all of its damaged glory. The once mighty citadel was lacking chunks of walls here and there, its stony defenses lay cracked and shattered. The few French soldiers that still had the courage to man the walls had no chance against the incoming waves of wyverns and, surprisingly, skeletons. Hordes of undead marched into the city from the ground, while swarms to scaled monsters tore at it from high above.

Frankly speaking, the city could not hold for much longer. Not without our help, at the very least. We stopped just before the enemy could notice us, and I was let back down on my feet. Quickly getting my remaining hair in order, I did a once over and confirmed that this, in fact, was an army. In the game, there were only three waves of enemies with usually three units in each. Generally speaking, no mission had more than twenty hostiles, and that was a stretch already. Seeing a literal battlefield unravel before my eyes was pretty scary.

And exhilarating.

Just from looking at it I could feel my heart start to beat faster. Blood was pumping in veins, screaming at me both run away screaming and rush _in_ screaming. Was this Cu felt when heading in battle? Was this how Beowulf felt? If so, then I could definitely understand their reasons.

For entire life, the one major obstacle between me and letting off some steam in such a way was my fear of pain. Or, rather, a dislike of pain. I didn't like the feeling of being hurt, simple as that. I didn't like blood because I didn't like knowing how it came outside. And I was averse to hurting others because they were human, just like me, and I could easily imagine the same wounds on my very own body. The same pain.

But now?

"Mash, you're with me, make sure I get to the castle safely. You'll also have to handle the negotiations," I began to give out instruction as the grin growing on my face started to resemble Cu's, "Lancer, Rider? Show me what you can do, but most importantly… Have fun."

With that, I threw the caution to the wind and rushed towards the castle, screaming at the top of my lungs. It was dangerous, it was silly, and it quite possibly put the entire operation at risk. But I had trust in my Servants. I knew they'd keep me safe if only to rinse my brains later by themselves. And also…

Just this once, before I _really_ dedicated my mind to the cause, I wanted to be myself. I wanted to stop hiding behind the mask of politeness, and moral codes, and societal norms, and just scream. Scream for everyone to hear.

Soon enough, my legs started to burn, weakness caused by the lack of proper exercise. My throat started to tear apart because I didn't stop screaming, even as I ran straight into a group of wyverns. I saw their deeply set reptilian eyes, pits of crimson staring into my soul with untold maliciousness. I saw their leathery wings, spread like a cape, ready to send a burst of air so strong it would tear me apart. I saw rotten skulls of former humans, just like me, peer at me from behind the scaled beasts, as if presenting me with my own future.

And through it all, the noises, the sounds, they all mixed together, until all I heard was silence. I ducked and I weaved, I stumbled and fell, and yet I got up and ran again. Silence. And then-

_Beep._

A sound.

_Beep._

So similar to that blasted IV, an unstoppable, uncaring sound that could be heard in reanimations when the heart was still working yet seconds apart from stopping forever.

_Beep._

My blood was on fire.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my uniform glow and wounds I've never noticed receiving began to fade away. The torn flesh of my shoulder stitched back, the white bone disappearing before my very eyes. A muted snap as my legs were twisted into places they should've been in in the first place. The suddenly recovered depth of vision when I felt my left eye socket begin to fill with _something_.

I knew no pain. And now I also knew no fear. For the thing one cared the most about was their own body. And I just saw mine being taken apart and put back together like it was just another Tuesday! And guess what? Throughout the whole ordeal, not a single ounce of discomfort.

Needless to say, I _loved_ self-hypnosis.

"SENPAI!"

"WHAT?"

"What were you thinking! You can die out here, there's no way I can protect you from all these-"

Mash was interrupted by another wyvern swooping in send sending its tails crashing at her face. Before that happened, however, a streak of red flashed and severed the appendage at its base. The fanged head was rolling on the ground not a second later.

I saw her blink without stopping the sprint. I also saw another wyvern aiming to bite her head off and a cloud of chains that wrapped around it prior to compressing it into fine mincemeat.

Chuckling, I reversed my run and jumped at Mash. She quickly reoriented herself to catch me with one arm across the chest, while simultaneously using the other to shield us both from a spear flying our way.

"If you don't believe in yourself, my dear Kouhai… Believe in your fellow Servants!" I waited until I saw the briefest grimace of resignation appear on her face and then continued, "And believe in me who believes in you!"

I swear, that phrase will never get old. Extracting myself from her arm, I ruffled her lovely pink hair and grinned.

"Now then. Catch me if you can!" Instead on dashing away, I froze on the spot and shouted as loud as I could, "Greatest kill count gets a favor! Mash, you get one if I manage to keep my arms attached to my body. See ya!"

With that, I sped up to the castle, its wall steadily getting closer and closer. Tails, wings, and bones were flying in every direction, accompanied by the whistling air, rattling chains, and Mash's quiet cursing.

…

Wait, what now? Denying that last one until I could see it with my own eyes, I turned to look back just in time to see Mash breaking one of the wyvern's spine in half, bones snapping and muscles tearing under the weight of her shield. Hopefully, she wasn't _that_ cross with me because of this escapade. Just in case, I decided to get some brownie points by casting Displacement on her, the Mystic Code's spells coming as easily as breathing, to help her avoid getting impaled on a hooked talon that one of the bigger wyverns sported.

Not for long though, as a second later she tore it off along with the leg. Yeah. I'll just carry on running for now.

Fortunately, I didn't need to find the gates because of all the holes, so I just ran past whatever defenses the French had in place. My screaming self was given a few weird looks, no doubt about that, but seeing that I was human the 'guards' decided to let me in. I could understand them, really, in such a situation any help could come in handy- and that's Joan of Arc.

Mhm.

The straw blonde hair shining in the sunlight, the strange armor that didn't seem to actually protect anything, the headpiece that I didn't have the slightest clue as to its purpose, and a pair of one of the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen. Come to think of it, all Heroic Spirits I've encountered so far had beautiful eyes, each in their own way. Reflections of the soul indeed.

In any case, that was, in fact, Jeanne D'Arc, one of my favorite Nasuverse characters, a top tier waifu just as every other Heroic Spirit, and boy she was pretty. And she was looking at me.

After blankly smiling at her as she weaved a string of French gibberish, she seemed to realize the issue and finally spoke in English.

"I don't know who you are, good sir, but you have my deepest thanks for coming to aid us in this time of need!" Her voice was… nice. Was I being weird? As expected, but still, "However, I fear that we won't be able to hold on for long. I would show you the way to safely escape from this deathtrap, but we seem to be surrounded from all sides. I'm truly sorry but you'll have to stand your ground to the very end with all of us. For what it's worth, please know that I shall do my best to protect you!"

And then she _bowed_ to me. I was still staring at her, the smile welded into my face, when she plunged the butt of her spear into the ground, a masterpiece of a banner unfurling from its upper half. This– she… She was apologizing to me for coming to help her but being unable to then leave her to die? And she would do her best to defend my life as an apology?

This… person… was dangerous, extremely so. I think I understand now why she was burned on that pyre. _I_ wanted to kill myself now for being a terrible excuse of a human being, and I've never even torched anybody to death in my entire life!

Aw, shoot, I feel terrible now. Watching her scatter the monsters left and right with her banner was like watching Lord of the Rings all over again, except she was the Bright Lord Jeanne, and those were the Allied Forces of the Dragonkind and the Undead. And, despite how she looked from the side, her words rang true. Against that army outside, she would fall. And all of these people would go right after her, judging by the grim determination burning in the eyes of every passing soldier. Even the dying ones, with no doctors to ease their pain, were screaming encouragements for the still-fighting.

It…

It was…

It was beautiful.

"_Direct Orders: I need this town and I need its inhabitants. Alive. I also want those monsters outside __**gone**__."_

No later than I transmitted my command, three things happened at the same time.

A skeleton covered in rags that was about to impale a wounded soldier was ground into fine dust as the ornate shield slammed straight through it.

A wyvern rearing its head at Jeanne in a ferocious roar was bisected by a bloody blur, a man with a grin just as ferocious emerging from between its falling halves.

A whip of chains wrapped itself around the French Saint's arm and pulled her away from her previous spot, a scaled tail ending in a gigantic bone club cracking earth in her place.

The cavalry has arrived.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: The break is over, and I can finally get back to this! Not a lot of things happen, but the next chapter should rectify that. Hope you enjoy~**

Chapter 8.

With the arrival of three human-sized death machines that were my Servants, the remaining battle didn't take very long. With four crystallized legends on our side, the united front of wyverns and skeletons stood no chance. Wings were ripped, bones were shattered, and names were taken.

Of course, as big battles usually go, casualties were unavoidable. Even after we showed up tens of French soldiers were either torn apart by the attacking forces or succumbed to the wounds received be we dropped by. Things like giant holes in the walls do tend to allow enemies to pass through in, frankly, ungodly numbers, after all. Heh. Ungodly.

The unidentifiable growl that I turned my snicker into drew some confused gazes but, by looks of it, people just thought I was expressing my anger at the lives lost. To be fair, that would've been the case if I wasn't aware that the only consequence of our actions within a Singularity was the overall fate of humanity. We either won and, well, won or lost got erased from existence. And while all these people were alive and 'normal' from their own perspective, in the essence of things they were nothing but NPCs.

Didn't mean I had to outwardly treat them in such a way though.

In the aftermath, I ran around the ruined castle just like everyone else who still had strength in them, carrying supplies and medicine to the wounded. The screams and moans, along with the blood stained rags everywhere, painted a rather difficult image to acclimate too but all wasn't that bad. Because of La Pucelle's mere presence, there was little to no despair in the dying's voices which made my life that much easier.

I've never been a big fan of hospitals, especially the ones with severe cases. They made it hard to not care about others' plights.

By the time the sun began to set, my body felt as if it was made of lead. My breaths came out erratic and short, lungs contracting with no semblance of effort or control from my part. Releasing a tortured sigh, I leaned against a crumbling wall of a nearby building and slowly slid down until I felt the cold stone through my weary pants.

I wiped the accumulated sweat off my brow as I stared at the descending sun through an opening in the citadel's fortifications. Bright orange rays immediately assaulted my vulnerable eyes, causing me to squint.

"Craaaap…" I droned out and lightly hit the back of my head against the wall, "So bloody tired… Wars are supposed to be about running around and spreading the good word of Dakka, not spending several hours delivering meds. I think I understand now why people say that a battlefield is a terrible place."

The sound of footsteps drawing closer and closer to my exhausted self was promptly ignored due to them having nothing to do with me. At least I hoped they had nothing to do with me because otherwise there was a chance I would need to stand up. And standing up? _Bad idea_.

"Senpai." On second thought, those two guys in the shed beside the well don't look so healthy. I think I should get them some bandages at the very least, do what I can to help.

As soon as I placed my hand on the ground to use it as leverage, a massive wall of metal slammed right in front of me, causing the earth to dent and my escape route to vanish into the oblivion.

I scraped my head on the rough wall as I look up to see Mash standing over me with a blank mask for a face. With her hair bathed in the dusk's light, she cut an eerily similar image to Medusa. Either of them.

"Yes, Mash?" I stretched my lips to force out a smile. Despite smiling itself being a tiring motion, I had no desire to be picked up and thrown in bed to get my 'necessary sleep.' Well, I did want that but I didn't want to appear weak in front of everyone else. Last Master, only hope, all that jazz.

"Please explain your behavior earlier today." Mash spoke in her usual calm tone but I still wanted to turn around and face the wall. There was definitely some ice in those words.

"I just couldn't help myself, you know?" I started after taking a deep breath, "There were just so many wounded and dying, and I just… I just thought I had to help. Sorry for wearing myself out so much, I promise I'll work less next time. Now, could you help me bring some bandages to the two injured gentlemen whom you so rudely obstructed from my view?"

…

Did it work?

"I was talking about the battle, Senpai." Her eyes were wide open, mimicking a doll or a mannequin in their mockery of human expressions.

It did not. Dammit.

"What about it, Kouhai dearest?" She twitched! Press it, boys, this is our chance! He who doesn't make use of an opportunity gets fed to the sharks! "Did you come to ask me for that favor I promised you? I did manage to get here in one piece, so feel free to ask anything you want."

Like a hungry mantis shrimp sensing an innocent octopus to devour, I could almost taste her initial determination and righteous anger wasting away. Making as pained a groan as I could and generally putting all of my acting skills to use, I stood up. Yes, not the perfect outcome but sacrifices have to be made. Also, the option of using the wall as support served as a nice catalyst to ease the choice.

"N-no, I'm here to ask you why you decided to run at the army of monsters by yourself!" After a brief stutter, she snapped out of her earlier confusion and her gaze went alight with… worry? "I'm still inexperienced as a warrior so I can't protect you as well as Lancer or Rider! And even then you just rushed forward with no concern for your own well-being! Senpai, without a Master, Servants aren't nearly as effective. Without a Master, Chaldea won't be able to clear Singularities. Without a Master, humanity is doomed to be wiped out."

She went from yelling to whispering in the span of seconds. Looking at the downcast mop of pink hair, I felt something cold painfully squeeze my heart. I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder when I saw my outstretched limb trembling. My fingers were shaking, a movement so tiny yet rapid that it created a blur.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady my heartbeat. After the thumping in my chest slowed down to manageable levels, I steeled myself and clasped her shoulder, smooth armor gently brushing against my skin.

"Look, I-"

"And you're the only Master we have left."

The words died in my throat as Mash's eyes rose to meet mine. There was definitely anger there, and worry, but not just at me. She was angry at herself too, I understood. At being unable to safeguard me from harm. At being unable to talk me out of jumping in harm's way myself. At being too weak to do any of that.

"Hey now," I cleared my throat with a cough to get rid of the traitorously squeaky voice, "That was the last time, I promise. It's just… I saw this big army, and a battle, and was all like 'Man, this is awesome. I wanna _be_ there!' so I wasn't really thinking what I was doing. Last time, promise. I'll even not make that your favor!"

My desperate attempt at a joke managed to lighten the mood a bit to my great relief as Mash huffed and gently punched me in the stomach. Naturally, I felt like a several dozen pound kettlebell just fell on my ribs. From a few meters high.

My back slammed against the wall with my head following soon after before bouncing and carrying my weight forward. As a Servant, Mash's instincts kicked in before she could even realize what happened and she moved out of my way. Unfortunately, her shield wasn't as agile.

"Motherf-"

"Senpai!"

"What?! My goddamn brain, gah!" I fell on my knees, driving my hands into my throbbing skull as deeply as I could, "Why, Mash, why?! A shield is supposed to protect, not _this_!"

"I'm so sorry!" Arms wrapped around my torso and lifted me up, causing a wave of nausea to crash against my mind, "Hold on there, Senpai! Medic! We need a medic!"

I was propped back against the wall, Mash's panicking voice contributing to my growing headache. It's all that shield's fault, it hates me! First back in Fuyuki, and now this?! Blasted chunk of metal…

"Oh my, what have we here?" Through a crack between my fingers, I saw Da Vinci's distorted blue face appear above me, "Another injury, so soon? My-my, Damien, don't tell me you actually enjoy those kinds of things. Did you do it on purpose?"

"It's that goddamn shield, I swear! The thing is out for blood, _my_ blood!"

"Right," The genius' voice was dripping with both sarcasm and amusement as she typed something on the other end of the connection, "That inanimate object has acquired consciousness and made it its life's goal to make your life as miserable… as… possible. Excuse me for a second."

"Here, I brought someone who can help!" Powering through the loud ringing inside my head, I turned to look at Mash running to me with some other guy by her side. Relatively young, in his twenties I'd say, short brown hair, brown eyes, nothing out of the ordinary, "Please aid him, doctor!'

The field medic muttered something French in response and crouched beside me. His fingers expertly pried off mine, causing me to wince from the breeze that brushed against the damaged area.

He kept murmuring things as he pressed around my head, making me grind my teeth in frustration. The short bursts of pain were more annoying than hurtful but it still felt nasty.

"Senpai, the doctor asks if it hurts here," I silently looked Mash in the eye and squinted. A second later something pressed against my head _hard_.

"Of course it hurts, why wouldn't… it," Wait a second. A moment of clarity was all it took me to realize that I didn't actually feel any pain. After all, why would I if I personally ensured that it wouldn't get in my way.

I blinked several times and stood up with a sigh, throwing the doctor off balance. Mash took a step back in confusion, evidently surprised by the sudden change in behavior.

"Phantom pains, no biggie," I helped the medic get back on his feet and sent a wink at Mash, "It was more pain than injury. I'm all better now."

"Oh, alright?" She said something to the Frenchman who responded by shaking his head. He then pointed at me and said something else, now both of them staring at me, Uhm, the doctor says there's a giant bruise and some skin is torn off. You should at least disinfect the wound and stop the bleeding."

"Bleeding? What bleeding?" I reached with my hand and slicked my hair all the way back. To my surprise, I indeed felt something went. As I was bringing my hand back to look at it, something dropped and hit me right below the eye.

A gentle swipe, and now I have two hands stained with blood. Shaking. What's with all the shaking, anyway?

"Senpai, are you feeling well?"

"Yeah, I'd think so-"

"Damien, you need to get some rest. Now." Da Vinci's voice suddenly reappeared, "I'll be sending the proper medications shortly."

"Wait, what?" Medications, _again__?!_ I just bloody left the bed!

"Da Vinci?" Even Mash was confused, "What are you saying, it was a simple hit on the head, I don't think Senpai got a concussion."

"Exactly! There's no need to detain me again, I even healed whatever scratches I received while running through the Monster Mash," I crossed my arms and glared at the shimmering hologram before blinking and glancing to my Kouhai, "No offense, Mash."

"None taken?"

"That's just the thing, isn't it?" The inventor's face was replaced by Romani, "Here, let me explain. You do know that we are constantly monitoring your vitals so you wouldn't be stuck in some Singularity or other, right? Now, I got a bit distracted…"

"You abandoned your post, Doctor," His entire body was thrown to the right, momentarily disappearing from the transmission. Then, a gloved hand reached up from somewhere below the image and pulled up the rest of the body, once again revealing Romani, now gently rubbing his evidently aching side.

"I was examining the footage of the anomaly!" He released a pained sigh, "No reason to punch me, Da Vinci… Anyway, yeah, I got distracted so you went unchecked for some time."

"Doctor…"

"Later, Mash, I know that was stupid of me but now is really not the time," Romani winced and rubbed his eyes, "How are you feeling right now, Damien?"

"Uhm, fine, really," I shrugged, "I mean I _did_ just hit a wall with my head, twice, but it looks worse than it feels. What's the big deal?"

"Maybe the fact that you ran headlong into a monster army…" Mash muttered under breath.

"Yes, actually," The doctor gave a strained smile, "That does seem to be the problem. Damien, remember how I offered you to rest some more before Rayshifting to this Singularity? Well, it wasn't just for show. Tell me, did you get any actual rest since the Fuyuki Incident?"

"I slept once?" I think I see where he is going, "But it was a very good sleep! Surprisingly good, actually."

"And here we have it, one 'surprisingly good' sleep," Romani leaned back and rubbed his eyes, "I'm the Doctor here, why didn't I just restrain you when I had the chance?"

"Excuse you? What was it about restraining?"

"You're in shock, Damien," He looked me in the eye and said bluntly. His words served as the final piece of a puzzle, completing the whole thing with a metaphorical click, "We have your reading and they quite bluntly tell us that you're not the most physically active person-"

"Hey! My chief qualities are intelligence and unbreakable positive attitude fueled by nihilism and existential crises! Sports are for the weak," I huffed. So what if I don't like pointlessly running around and kicking leather balls across fields?

"Not the issue here," Romani waved it off, "What it does is tell us that you're not exactly used to this whole saving the world alongside legendary heroes thing. An average person's responsibility stops approximately at caring for their family. You, judging by your age, went from 'getting good grades to get into a good university' to 'if I fail, everyone dies.' Perhaps you don't want to admit it, perhaps something else, but right now it's eating at your psyche. We managed to stabilize you back in Chaldea but it seems that your adrenaline levels are once again through the roof. I'll repeat myself as many times as it takes, Damien, you're in shock. And seeing how you, an ordinary human, just ran straight into the wyverns' teeth, it may kill you before Lev does. Or whatever he plans to do."

Was I really that shocked? I… didn't feel anything out of the norm. Sure, I wouldn't normally provoke violence towards myself but that's just because I didn't like pain, which is no longer a problem. Screaming out loud? I simply wanted to do it, that's all. Who else in my previous life could say that they charged at an army, huh? Exactly. And my unusual outspokenness could be easily explained by the lack of sloth and desire to waste everyone's time. So it all makes sense!

…

I really am high, aren't I?

"Alright, Doc" I swallowed the suddenly viscous saliva and pressed my palms together, "Let's say I really am in shock. What should I do then? Just lie down and wait for this Singularity to resolve itself? Kind of defeats the point of going here in the first place, if you ask me."

"At least you're not denying it," Romani tiredly smiled, "As Da Vinci said, we'll send you the medications to speed up your recovery but, otherwise, you have the right idea. Just find a quiet place to relax and your body stabilize itself. Obviously, things that could raise your adrenaline are strictly prohibited for now, so do avoid fighting."

"Easy for you to say," I slowly shook my head, "'Very well then, let it be said that I'm not one to run from having fun. Or rhyming like a… a gun? A drum? Nun! Wait, no, that doesn't make any sense…"

"I'll take care of him, Doctor. Please do watch his condition, it is your job after all."

"Khm, yes, I'll do just that. Well, seeing how I've done my part, I'll go and ponder about my life choices."

"…speedrun? No, that's just two 'runs,' and using the same word as a rhyme is disgusting…"

"You do that, Doctor. Please look after him, Da Vinci."

"Will do! This whole complex is my Workshop after, there's nowhere he could hide."

"Gah, Da Vinci! We've had this conversation already, no peeping in the bathrooms!"

"You said, not me! Ah, I've always known that you have one depraved mind, Doctor, but this?"

"Chum? Rhyming like a chum… Nah, I don't want to be fish food, or whatever the exact definition is. You know what? Gun is fine. Rhyming like a Gatling gun, yeah! Spewing sick rhymes like it's no one's business. Or rather, 'like back in the old times,' yeah" I snapped my fingers and turned back to others with a satisfied smile plastered on my face, "Alright, where were we again?"

"You- What, dammit!" Romani's spluttering visage and Da Vinci's innocent whistling were vying for hologram space right before my eyes. Suddenly, the doctor slammed his fist against the table and turned to face me, his hair somehow disheveled beyond recognition, "You, rest! Chaldea, off!"

The image dispersed into blue motes of light, leaving only me, Mash, and the confused French medic to stare blankly at the empty space.

"Well, that happened," I stated matter-of-factly and glanced at Mash, "You want to go find the others?"

"If you mean finding you a bed to rest in by that, then yes," She crossed her arms and stared at me, daring to disagree.

"Great! Let's go then," I twisted my lips for a second to form a half-assed smile and headed deeper into the ruined citadel.

Mash quickly caught up to me and started walking beside me, discreetly glancing at me from time to time. Discreetly in her opinion, anyway, because I was constantly looking at her through my peripheral vision. She still had a lot to learn, that one.

So, I just made sure I kept my shoulders straight and my gait confident, traversing the rows of dead and wounded like it was just a stroll in the park. Granted, it wasn't all acting as I wasn't nearly as freaked out as I probably should've been but I still had to keep up appearances. _Especially_ when things like fighting Tiamat come by. I need to be confident, I need to be strong, and I need to never lose hope.

And if I couldn't do it myself, self-hypnosis was always an option. Man, do I love that technique or what?

We spotted and reached the main gathering of people shortly after, a dense crowd erupting with screams and yells every couple minutes. It was mostly composed of French soldiers with various degrees of injuries, but I was sure there were Servants somewhere in there.

As future swiftly proved, I hit the bullseye. In the very middle of the crowd (it took me some help from Mash to get all the people out of our way) Medusa, Cu, and Jeanne were standing around a simple wooden table with a crude map on top of it. From where I stood, I could some symbols that were likely to indicate cities and fortresses, some forests, rivers, the likes. Still, it was badly drawn by modern standards. No surprise there, I guess.

The three Servants were currently arguing about something with each other, and another man who looked like a normal soldier but with more decorated armor. An officer, probably.

"We should escort the people to La Charite," Jeanne put her finger somewhere on the map, "With all these monsters roaming around, they won't be able to reach the city by themselves. And even if they could, not without casualties."

"We also need to save Humanity," Cu sighed, "Look, girly, I'm all for helping the common folk. But we a currently on a mission and our job is to clear this Singularity. By your own words, the cause is likely to be that Dark Jeanne you mentioned, so we need to scout Orleans."

"But the people need us!" I could hear the desperation seeping into her voice, the desire to protect her countrymen driving a simple village girl to argue with the Irish demigod, "If we don't save them now, there will be nothing to save later! I… I will go with them myself, but if you come too then more people will survive. We _need_ to get them to safety first."

Cu took a deep breath and looked straight at Joan, "I'm a Hero too, you know? I probably don't care for them as much as you do, but that doesn't mean I want them to die. But you know the main difference between us? I have a Master. Right now, our explicit orders are to shut down this Singularity, and that's exactly what we'll do. I think helping them is the right thing to do, I really do. But I am but a simple hound. When my Master orders me to guard, I do. When he orders me to kill, I do. When he orders me to save, guess what, I do it too. And I would rather bear the weight of letting people die than to jeopardize my mission and ruin whatever plans my _direct superior_ has, for better or for worse. That's what it is to be a hound, after all."

"I see…" Jeanne closed for a second before opening them again, a fierce flame of determination burning deep inside the pools of purest amethyst, "Then I thank you for your assistance, Servants of Chaldea, but our ways seem to part here. I have no words to express my gratitude for you coming in this moment of need and I'm sure that all these people you've saved share my thoughts. But I have a duty before my country, and my Lord, and I shall not abandon it!"

She summoned her banner and planted it into the ground, the shaft sinking by a good few centimeters. He swiftly turned on her heels and opened her mouth to shout something, before seeing me standing just a couple meters away from her and freezing in place. That caught Cu's attention who turned in the same direction and quirked an eyebrow when he saw me waving at them.

"Hi," I chirped, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Senpai…"

"Not now, Mash, this is a moment."

"Master," Medusa greeted me with an inclination of her head, the sound of her hair falling down the shoulders 'oddly' reminiscent of slithering snakes, "You're late for the war council."

"Ha!" Oh, gods bless you, Rider, for this opportunity! Okay, don't botch it, Damien, "A wizard is never late, nor is he early! A wizard arrives precisely when he means to."

"But you're no Wizard, Senpai," I felt a tap on my shoulder, "A Wizard wouldn't have gone into melee as you did earlier."

"Give it time, Mash," I had to suppress the feeling of righteous outrage and focus on the matter at hand, "So, ladies and gentlemen, what seems to the problem?"

"I- We," Jeanne began after exchanging glances with Cu and receiving an encouraging nod, "Need your help. Vaucouleurs is no longer capable of sustaining a population without the risk of them being attacked by monsters and killed, so they have to be escorted to another city. The closest one is La Charite which is the one we plan to go to, but… With only me protecting them, and so many soldiers injured, I'm afraid that most of them won't survive the trip. Perhaps even all of them. So please, I beg of you, help me save these people!"

She let go of her banner and bent in two, bowing before me. In a daze, my eyes trailed her ponytail as it rolled off her back and dangled in the air, its tip brushing against the dirt.

Now _that_ was an affront I couldn't take.

"Up. Now," Before she could straighten herself, I neared her and lifted her shoulders before gently tracing the hair down to the end and knocking off the grime with a few strokes, "You're a bloody Hero, Joan, act like it. So what if we saved you, just a simple thank you would've been enough. Bowing before me, what is wrong with you? _I'm_ supposed to be the one bowing, even though I wouldn't because that's just not how I work, but still!"

After inspecting the strands of hair and confirming that they could be called clean again, I glanced at the map, mentally recalling the First Singularity from the game. I let go of Jeanne's hair with a satisfied huff and turned to her, "Besides, this La Charite is clearly on the way to Orleans that lancer mentioned. It would do us no harm to help you along the way- And why… are you blushing?"

I blinked a few times at the positively _red_ Jeanne, -and good god she was short!- before glancing around. Mash had a lovely shade of pink on her cheeks as she pouted at me, her hands crossed across her chest. She seemed to completely ignore the massive tower shield that was just suddenly _there_ right next to her, causing me to gulp.

Medusa's blindfold was just staring at me judgmentally with its usual blank surface, though I could see a lifted eyebrow peek from behind it. Cu, on the other hand, shot me a grin and a thumbs up, making me realize how this whole situation looked from the side.

My attention snapped to the still fidgeting saint whose head barely reached the crook of my neck. Slightly disheveled hair, puffed up cheeks, and a look of childish indignation, she looked nothing like the holy martyr I knew she was.

Also, I just committed a heinous breach of personal space, and could already hear the crowd actively whispering. Them being French, I couldn't understand a thing, but the fact itself was ramping up my anxiety like crazy.

"Hold that thought," Having said that, I turned around to Mash, doing my best to ignore the stares, and mechanically walked up to her, "We need to find me a bed so I can throw off some stress, right? Well, let's do that right now!"

"Leaving so early, Master?" Came a bark of laughter from behind, and I swear I could _feel_ the amusement rolling off of Cu in waves, "Not even gonna say bye-bye to your new girlfriend?"

I froze.

"Cu?"

"Yes?"

"Don't joke about my love life," My hands clenched into fists until they were stark white, "Or when I summon your teacher, she'll be swiftly informed of every single flaw I manage to find in your performance. Do we understand each other?"

"Holy shit, Master, yes we do!" Then, a whisper, "Now _that's_ a trigger if I've ever seen one…"

"No, Lancer, that was a joke because I don't know how to react to teasing," I looked back and shot the blankly blinking Irishman my best impression at an impish grin, "Now please cooperate with Joan to organize the escort. If I'm needed, either find me or contact me through the link. Apparently, my poor fragile human meatbag of a body needs some rest."

I waved at the flabbergasted Servants and glanced at Mash. The look she sent my way was way too confusing to dissect, so I brushed it off.

"I need to get my psyche in order," I stated marching away from the crowd, "Preferably as soon as possible."

"Y-yes, Senpai!"

We had to walk around the citadel for quite a while until a suitable bed was found. An old looking house that wasn't as damaged as its neighbors was the best place we could find. I dropped down without further ado, causing the decrepit piece of furniture to groan, and stared at the half-missing stone ceiling of the tarnished house.

I could hear Mash saying something into her shield, and a few moments later some pills and a cup of water were pressed into my hands. I tiredly smiled at Mash and gulped down the medicine, the cool lump of liquid restoring some of my stamina as if went down my throat.

"Thank, Mash," I returned the cup and made myself comfortable on the bed, "This was one crazy day, am I right? Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Of course, considering we'll have to move a bunch of people from one city to another, it is mandatory for us to run into some kind of trouble. Do you think there'll be more wyverns or undead?"

"Senpai…"

"What's with this 'Senpai,' anyway? You don't look Japanese to have grown up with those phrases, so what gives?"

"Uhm, it just… kind of happened? I used to spend a lot of time with Doctor Roman, and he's a bit into that kind of stuff. So it stuck to me, I guess," She dragged a chair from some dark corner of the room, and took a seat beside the bed, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Could you tell me more about yourself?" At my questioning stare, she nervously rubbed her hands together, and fake-coughed into her fist, "I mean, we barely know anything you, and you _are_ our Master, so I just thought…"

"Hmmm, you know what? Sure," I shrugged, "I've always loved Q&A sessions. All of those questions, they help you understand who you are, you know? Huh. I seem to be repeating myself, probably the medicine kicking in. My head does feel kind of cranky. Give me a sec."

"_Hey, we're about to have a Q&A session, you guys want to join? Also, call the Saint, if we're going to be adventuring together, she has to know at least something about me."_

"_Oh, Master! What a coincidence, we were actually looking for you. Just tell us where to go, and we'll be there shortly."_

After asking Mash for confirmation, I muttered the relative address and Mash went outside to meet the guests. Meanwhile, I continued staring into empty space, noticing the glaring difference between now and back when I was in Chaldea.

I wasn't bored.

Something in the back of my head told me that I could just lie here and space out for hours on end. It was a weird connecting, between lack of sloth and lack of boredom, but I think I could understand the reasoning.

Why do we get bored? Because we get too tired of doing something. Working for too long? You're bored. Studying for too long? You're bored. A bored person wants to switch their current action, do something else.

But what if you can't get tired? What if you can perform a task like a machine, feeling no exhaustion, no fatigue? They can do that task eternally, that's what. For example, eternally lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

Apparently, my self-hypnosis commands have a bit more consequences than I have expected. I should probably take some time researching them…

"Master!" The door suddenly shot open, revealing a grinning Cu, whom Mash was desperately trying to slow down by pulling at one of his arms with both hands. Naturally, such meek attempts were promptly ignored by the demigod who occupied the shielder's chair with a mighty crash of descending armor. How the chair survived, remains a mystery, "Long time no see! We've decided put the girly at the front of the column, with me and snake lady mixed up along the way. You should go in the back with Mash, that way we can quickly come to your aid if needed while you prevent the monsters from slaughtering the civvies!"

"You want to put Senpai in the back?" Mash huffed and brought another chair, slamming it right next to Cu's, "I've read that the rears can easily fall prey to ambushing, and we absolutely can't risk Master's well-being!"

"Actually-"

"This doesn't concern you, Senpai!"

What?

"I'm pretty sure it does, Mash," I glanced between the two remaining Servants in search of support, "It's _my_ well-being we're talking about, right?"

"While correct, you're not necessarily right," The youngest gorgon spoke up before pausing, "Curses. Anyway, you have proven to be incapable of properly caring for your life, so we have decided to take care of that for you."

I pointedly ignored slight blush on Medusa's face as she paraphrased the infamous Shirou Emiya. I turned to Jeanne, subtly widening my eyes and curling the lips just so, in order to do my best rendition of puppy-dog eyes. I could see her mental barriers break one after another as I twisted my body to seem more unnaturally bent, playing the 'inured human' card.

Her fists clenched and she bit her lip, a silent battle of wits that Jeanne was slowly, but steadily, losing. The chatter between Mash and Cu faded into the background, and I could feel Joan's pity for the poor exhausted human overpower whatever evil force was preventing my will from being done. Almost there…

Unfortunately, that was the exact moment Medusa chose to slide in and tug at the collar of my uniform, revealing layers upon layers of bandages that I didn't have time to take off. Even though my injuries were healed because of the Mystic Code, the bandages themselves were still torn in place, making me look like some battle-hardened veteran. If one wasn't looking at my face, of course.

At my indignant squawk, the entire room's attention was immediately switched to me. Mash and Jeanne gasped at the same time, eyes tracing the nonexistent scars, while Cu and Medusa chose to simply sit back and enjoy the show, as evidenced by the small smirks tugging at the lips.

"Senpai, those scars-!"

"There were right, you need to take better care of yourself!"

Dammit. And I could even prove that I was unscathed by discarding the bandages, except I couldn't because that would involve stripping in a populated room. As evidenced by the knowing expression on the gorgon's face, she knew _exactly_ what she did.

"Fine, fine! Geeze, you two are like… ehm," I tried to find the right word, "I would say mothers or elder sisters, but I've never had a latter and was too careful to cause the former to freak out. Oh, look, an opportunity! Quick, before I pass out from the medications, forget this conversation and ask me something."

"_Cu, the battle formation is acceptable, just so you know."_

"_You got it, Master."_

More chairs were dragged out from the deepest parts of the house and set around the bed. I kind of felt like the PoV of the Village Cannibals card art from MtG, if I were to be completely honest. Freaky.

"Alright, before the drugs knock me out and I retain some semblance of sanity feel free to ask questions. I may not answer them, but I will answer them truthfully."

"Can you tell me about the outside world?" I winced as Mash brought up the sour topic for me, and tried to avoid answering.

"We've talked about that already, haven't we?"

"Yes, but you never mention what _your_ life was like."

"An origin story then, huh?" I sighed, "Alright, but be warned that there's not much to tell. I was born in the twenty-first century and could be called a proper child of that generation. Except not really. When my peers were running around playgrounds, I explored the forest in the nearby park with my grandma. When they were playing football, I spent hours on end losing myself to video games. And then I discovered books."

"You 'discovered' books?" Medusa's question cleanly cut through my narrative.

"Yeah, I hated reading when I was a kid. Well, more of a kid than I am now," I shushed at the smirk on Cu's face, "Yes, I still consider myself young, despite what you old-timers think. Normal people don't marry and fight wars at thirteen. At least not on the front lines. Anyway, I really got into reading and became practically inseparable from various e-books, since paperbacks were too cumbersome to carry around. And then it's all simple life, school, studies, existential crises, crushing nihilism, and drowning myself in old cartoons and video games, grumbling about how my generation consisted of rap-loving simpletons, whose brains were actually made up of connective tissues with no dreams greater than being a captain of their sports team. Of course, there are always exceptions, but that the kind of people I was generally surrounded by. Sad, really."

"You sound like a nerd."

"Shut it, leprechaun. I am a scholar," I grinned back at the spearman, "I guess a nerd works too, but not with _that_ tone."

"And what about family?" Medusa asked again, "You mentioned not having an older sister, but what about younger sisters? Brothers?"

"Nah, never had a sibling in my entire life. Direct ones, I mean," My eyes began to sting from overwork, so I had to speak while rubbing them something fierce, "Had some cousins far away from home. A Bunch of aunts and uncles who visited from time to time. But it was technically just me, my parents, and various grandparents that I visited on a regular basis."

"That's a big family, Master," Rider leaned forward and rested her chin on her fist, purple hair shifting around like a nest of snakes, "And there was no one to share your interests?"

"Don't get me wrong, they supported me all the way," I could feel my eyes begin to close, but I forced them open, "But I was just a bit too different. Keep in mind though, this might be my inner emo talking, while in reality, everything was great and I was just a rebellious 'misunderstood' teenager. Anyway, yeah, the only child, all possible support, all the good stuff. But it was all just so… bland, you know? There I was, reading books and playing games, imagining myself as this big indomitable hero, or a dastardly ineffable villain, and then getting up and going to school. Here we have people talking about culture, and there we have people talking about race, and then we have this problem, and then we have that problem, and can a mighty hero come to save us? No! Because murder is wrong and you can't just purge all of those cancerous elements without being crucified by the rest! If you want peace, prepare for war, dammit! I've bloody had it with all these protests, propaganda, the lies, and deceptions… Do you know how many times I caught myself staring at the news and asking why normal people just don't buy hunting rifles and all gun all those morons down? A lot. It happened a lot of times."

"Senpai…"

"Again you are with this 'Senpai.' Not that I have anything against it, but please speak up, Mash. No one's going to kill you for having an opinion. Despite what I just said, it's the people who presented their opinion in a rather annoying way who pissed me off," Suppressing a giant yawn, I gave the Servants my best toothy smile, "But that's not going to be a problem now, is it? The world is in danger, no time to waste… You disagree? Here, then, please have this bullet applied directly to your frontal lobe. Thank you for not wasting our time, next! Hehe, oh, it's going to be a blast. We'll drag humanity kicking and screaming to its salvation, and there ain't nothing that could stop us. Theoretically, that is. You're not getting cold feet, are you?"

"Bah, I've never considered myself to be one of those stuck up assholes I've encountered around Uncle from time to time," Cu summoned Gae Bolg and rested it on his shoulders, "Besides, I am but a hound of my Master, so you just do your thing, and I'll make sure you come out of it alive, m'kay?"

"Senpai is Senpai," Mash tried to smile reassuringly, but there was clearly something about my speech that disturbed her, "I may not agree with everything you've just said, but perhaps there are times when… harsher methods are needed. You know better than me, anyway, being my Senpai and all."

"While I find myself at odds with such… devotion," Medusa began, carefully picking her words, "I do understand your reasons, and, possibly, your feelings. Be as it may, I am your Servant and am yours to command."

We all looked at the last person who had yet to speak up. Jeanne was fidgeting on her chair, her face shadowed by the dangling bangs of hair, while her gauntleted arms were playing some simple tune by striking against each other. As if feeling our gazes, she looked up and stared me right in the half-lidded eye.

"You said some pretty terrible things right now. I may understand the need to kill your enemy, wars aren't fought otherwise, after all, but to speak with such lack of care…" She put her hands on her knees and clenched them, the fabric of her skirt-dress straining under the pressure, "Forgive my words, but you are not a heroic paragon that you, perhaps, once wanted to be. I heard pettiness, spite, even a touch of cruelty while you were speaking, hardly qualities fit for Hero…"

I impassively stared back at the saint, not even trying to object. And why should I? She was right, after all, I was petty, I could be cruel, and I honestly thought that spite was the best human emotion since curiosity. Besides, this young-looking gal was so high up the moral mountain, she could call any living human of my age a devil, and nobody would argue. Compared to her, most people _were_ devils.

"But," The stony expression was suddenly replaced with a blooming smile, her eyes sparkling like the gems they were so similar to. The entire room seemed to brighten just because she twisted her lips just so. It was insane, absurd, and way too breathtaking to be argued against, "I also believe that are no flawless humans. After all, if a simple village girl like me who can't even read or write is considered a saint… I really don't want to think about what it says about humanity."

Her giggle was akin to a string bells disturbed by a slight breeze. Just as mesmerizing as it was ethereal. She then stood up, causing me to flinch slightly, and took a step towards the bed. I couldn't take my eyes off hers as she leaned forward and put her hand on top of mine.

"Yet despite all that, you came to our rescue. You arrived precisely in the time of need, just like a Hero would. And just like you meant to, since you're such a mighty Wizard," She giggled again before straightening herself and then bowing to me for the _third time_, "I've been somewhat weakened by the nuisances of my manifestation here, but if you'll have me, this Joan of Arc would love to become your Servant, oh Savior of Humanity."

Silence.

Sigh.

"If I weren't on drugs, I'd get up and hug you. If I also weren't high on adrenaline, I'd stammer and divert the conversation through some genius oratory technique. As it is, however, the only thing I can say is this: Stop bowing dammit, I'm one of the least deserving people for Jeanne D'Arc herself to bow before me! Get her up, someone, please!"

The room promptly drowned in Cu's laughter, the armored spearman barely taking a step before Joan stood up straight again, this time with a visible mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Groaning, I gave up on this entire conversation and just lifted my arm, bathing the room in crimson glow for a split second.

"There, happy?"

"I am, Master!" Her cheeks gained a pinkish shade as she scratched them in embarrassment, "Ah, that feels a bit weird to say, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Master. Master! Master-Master-Master!-"

"And now it feels weird to hear!" I turned away from her, trying my best to fuse my ears into my head, so hard I was pressing on them to tune her out, "Oh, God, my head…"

My control was slipping, and I could feel the clutches of oblivion grip at my mind. My vision was blurry, and my head was positively splitting my now, but I swear I saw the smug blotch of white in the corner of the room, whose dog-squirrel-mouse face was currently _laughing_ at me.

"Oh yeah, I bet that old NEET is enjoying himself something fierce right now. Tell the pervert I say 'hi.' Oh, wait…" I managed to mumble.

The last thing I saw was a white torpedo flying at my face.

**P.S. Not sure if the next chapter will be an update for this or another story I want to try (WoD's Mage in DxD, in case you're interested.). Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see, eh?**


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